Dom and Letty begin
by fivealive123
Summary: Every relationship starts somewhere...
1. Chapter 1

So everyone knows that everything has a beginning- here is one way it may have happened…

Letty had never known a time in her life when people she loved didn't disappoint her. I remember when we were all young and she moved into the house down the block from ours. Before I knew who she was, I knew the house. I always saw people going in and out of the house. I saw random cars parked outside. There was movement around the house at all hours of the night. But, I was thirteen. At thirteen you really only think about yourself. My main concerns were Junior High School and being the first one of my friends to be the badass, take the plunge- have sex. It's odd when you look back on your life- on all your regrets. And you think to yourself, if I could do it again I would change things. But then, you realize that your life might be different. I don't believe in hindsight. I don't believe in fiction. Everything has a reason and an origin. And, this was ours.

Leticia Ortiz was nine when she moved in. Her house was old and run down. It was loud. It was one of those houses that you see in the movies that always has dogs barking and glass breaking. But, there weren't ever any dogs. A lot of the windows were broken, though. It needed to be painted. It didn't look like a place that was fit for a young girl. Some days it looked like a fraternity house, bass pumping, beer bottles slinging, and some days it looked abandoned. I first saw Letty on one of the lonely days. I was walking down the street with my friend Vince. We had just landed a pack of cigarettes but wanted to get far enough away from my Dad to smoke them. My mom had died that year of lung cancer. She didn't smoke. But, I knew if he caught me smoking I'd have an engine dropped on my head. I had always liked a rush, even back then. Smoking, at that time, was forbidden; it was dangerous. I guess, after my Mom died, I realized that life was fleeting. You may as well make the most of it- one day at a time. And if you were going to die of lung cancer at 30, you may as well smoke it up now.

As we walked down the street- more accurately we strutted- it was that stereotypical thirteen-year-old mix between invincible badass and scared shitless of our parents. I knew that if my Dad got a hold of me, I would not be invincible- rather conquerable, dead. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the world that day, only my own world- much smaller, less water. But, as we passed her house, which we had all labeled a crack house, I saw her sitting outside in a tree. Her skinny legs were dangling down from the highest branch she could reach. She was tan, assumingly Hispanic, and she had long dark hair. She was wearing Umbros and an old tee shirt with a beer label on it. I naturally noticed this. At thirteen, beer is very cool so it got my attention. I didn't say anything to her as I walked by. I had a mission that I wasn't going to toss aside for some kid that lived in a tree. But, I couldn't stop thinking about her for some reason. We had made eye contact as I walked by. I saw desperation in her eyes. She had a longing and a fear all at the same time. If she had wings she would have taken off. I think she would have been a lot better in the long run. I knew I should have stopped. I should have at least said hello. But, I just kept walking. I had a one-track mind, as boys tend to have. That was my first regret with Letty. Actually, it was a regret that I have never really gotten over. Regardless of what my life turned into, I may have been able to change hers that day.

After Vince and I found the abandoned house on 4th and Tyler Street we smoked our cigarettes. It made us so cool. It makes my chuckle but I still remember talking to him about the fact that it made us cooler. I wasn't really good at a lot when I was younger. School was never my thing and it was hard for me to find the motivation to succeed. But, when they tried to put me in special classes I always placed out. Apparently I had good processing speed. I ended up looking this up a few years later and found out that it meant that I was able to make decisions really quickly. The only thing I was good at was fixing cars. But, what good does that do a thirteen-year-old? I couldn't drive. I helped my Dad in his shop every day. It was better than doing homework. And, he made me feel important. That was where my self-esteem came from- my Dad and fast cars. If my Dad hadn't been a mechanic I probably would have gone through my whole life searching for my niche. Luckily, he introduced it to me early. Learning about cars was really the only learning I felt like I needed. I knew I could have a job in it, a good job, if I paid close attention. I decided to give up on school somewhere around eleven and just focus on cars. I liked the speed. I liked the power that knowing about cars gave me. I saw rich people bringing their cars to my Dad. They were helpless. You had them by the short and curlies. But, my Dad was a fair man. He taught me that the most important thing was being straight up. He also taught me about loyalty. He and the men that worked at his shop were loyal. They helped each other, no matter what. They were there for each other. And, when things got tough for one of them, the others stepped in and led them out. That is what family is all about- the "no matter what". But, my obsession with cars was inevitable. I couldn't be Toretto's boy and not love the speed, the beauty, the detail and art behind fixing up a car. You were able to mold it, like clay, into whatever you wanted it to be.

So, when Vince and I came walking back past Letty's house to see an ambulance and cop cars I wasn't really surprised. Vince was shocked. A lot didn't happen on our street. I lived in a bad part of town, no one had money, everyone had problems, but they kept to themselves. It would take a lot for someone to call the cops because 75% of the neighborhood was probably breaking the law. Why invite in the enemy? (A thought that is very ironic to me now). A distrust in authority was introduced to me early. When I was very young by Dad was sent to prison. When he got out, he wanted nothing at all to do with the police. This is an ideal that he impressed into me very early in life and it stuck. Cops never helped me out- well…

Anyway, so when you are thirteen and you just did something that you know is wrong, you automatically assume that the cops are going to be able to sniff you out. When we saw the cops, we ran. We ran straight for Vince's house. He lived with his Mom and Step dad. They had just left for work and it seemed like a good hide out. As soon as the dust settled we reemerged, hoping to find out what was going on. We sprayed some air freshener on us, assuming that two hours later we still smelled like smoke, and headed to my Dad's garage.

"Hey boys, were ya' been? I need some help with this fuel system," my Dad said looking at me. I didn't get paid, but apparently still worked there.

"What were all cops about?" I asked, walking over to my Dad as he rolled back underneath a '78 Plymouth.

"Apparently some guy beat up and really hurt some lady and her kid. He had been threatening to do it all day. It took a lot of shouting and finally some gun shots before anyone called the cops. They said the girl tried to hide but didn't end up going anywhere," my Dad's partner told me.

So that was what it had been about. Some guy had been at their house. He had been threatening her Mom. She knew that she would probably get the short end of the stick also. And, she had been reaching out for help. I guess she didn't say anything because she didn't want to bring attention to herself. Why didn't she just ask for help? I could have brought her back to the garage. My Dad and his crew would have protected her. No one is going to mess with gear heads all inadvertently hyped up on gas and paint fumes. But, I saw the fear in her eyes. I kept walking anyway. Why stick out my neck for someone? If my Dad had heard me say that he would have beat me eight ways to Sunday. "You stick out your neck for people that need you because it's the right thing to do"- I can hear him say.

"Oh, well is she alright?" I asked, trying not to sound like I had any idea about the situation.

"Who?" my Dad asked, rolling out from underneath the car.

"The girl, her Mom," I insisted.

"I don't know, the cops were there. They are Hispanic so probably not," he replied with concern in his voice. "Here, take this," he added, handing me parts of a carburetor, "see what you can do about it."

Her eyes haunted me for days. They would be in my dreams. I would fall asleep and all I would see was eyes. Sometimes they had tears in them, sometimes they didn't. It made me wonder if she was crying when I saw her. I couldn't remember. I tried not to look that closely. It was like when you see someone beating their dog. You know you should say something, but you figure if you keep walking it isn't really happening. My Mom was the most sensitive person I knew. She was able to get me to talk about feelings and dreams when no one else could. After she died, I figured there was no point. I may as well be the man that I was intended to be- car junky. You didn't need feelings when fixing up a car. My Mom and I were close. It was dangerous to let people get close. People you are close to die. I learned this even better a few years later, when my Dad got killed. I wasn't quite the hardened shelled guy I would become, not till his death anyway. But, I figured my Mom was the only woman that I would ever let get close enough to see me. Girls I knew didn't want to see the real me. They wanted to see the macho guy. They wanted the surface, the reputation, not all the problems that came with it. But, despite all the people I'd met in my life up to this point, there was just something I couldn't shake about the girl I'd seen earlier.

TBC

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I'm going to continue this one but any reviews would be nice…

AJ


	2. Chapter 2

When I was younger I saw a few people get killed. Growing up in the shady part of downtown LA it was bound to happen. I can't say that I was desensitized to death, but it didn't help providing me with a concept of having much to live for. I realized early that the only way not to wind up this way- dead- was to always stay on top. And, having your Mom die changes your entire life- regardless of age. It affected my little sister the most. Mia was only ten when she died. She cried the way most of us wanted to but just couldn't seem to. She then took on the responsibility of taking care of us. She cooked, cleaned, made sure that I was at least awake before school started. Mia went to school everyday. I think that she wanted to create a better life for us. She was smart too. But, she was pretty. And for some girls that is a curse.

When I finally saw the girl again it had been three weeks since our first encounter. She looked different. She looked empty. There was a body, but no emotion. She was sitting in the grass looking at a magazine. It was the middle of a school day. I had accidentally slept in, missed the bus, and decided to take the day off. I was trying to avoid my Dad's garage but didn't really have anywhere to go. So, I was pacing around trying to get into trouble. I walked past her. She looked up. I couldn't tell if she gave me a smile or a scowl. It has always been confusing with Letty.

"Whatcha doing? Why aren't you in school?" I said, stopping in front of her house.

"Why aren't you in school?" she questioned, exhibiting that badass attitude that I would come to love so much about her.

"I took the day off," I said with a cocky tone to my voice.

"Yeah, well, me too," she agreed, looking back at her magazine.

I wanted to say something to her about seeing her in the tree. I didn't know if she would even remember it was me. But, I couldn't muster the words.

"Whatcha reading?" I asked instead, walking a bit closer.

"Just a magazine…cars," she replied nonchalantly.

"Are you into cars? You're a girl," I said, shocked.

"So girls can't be into cars?" She said looking directly into my eyes. I had to avoid her eyes. I couldn't take looking right at her.

"No," I said in a "duh" type of manner.

"Idiot," she said, slightly laughing, slightly pissed.

"How old are you?" I asked inquisitively.

"Sixteen," she lied.

"How old are you really?" I asked again.

"Sixteen," she insisted. "And, this car here," she said, pointing to a picture in the magazine, "it's mine. I'm going to pick it up today and drive it to Mexico."

"Really?" I said, eyebrows perched. "Good luck with that. Goin' to Mexico? You runnin' from the law?"

"Somethin' like that," she said, avoiding the question.

"What are you runnin' from," I had concern in my voice at this point. I didn't want there to be another incident that I could have helped her avoid.

"Who are you?" she asked, refusing the question. It was pretty obvious that she didn't seem to like to answer questions. And, she wasn't giving away any information that was for sure.

"My name is Dominic. Toretto. I live up the street. My Dad owns the garage on the corner," I said pointing.

"Well," she said unenthused, "that's nice." It always took a lot to impress Letty. She had seen a lot, good and bad. And, when you have seen a lot it takes a lot to affect you.

"Who are you?" I asked back.

She didn't answer.

"Nobody?" I asked, a little stunned with her attitude. She was young, around my sister's age. But, I was still not used to this type of a reaction from anyone. She acted like I wasn't there. Hell, she acted like she wasn't there.

"…my name is Letty," she said after a few seconds.

"Alright, Letty, well I guess I'll let you get back to whatever it is that has you so interested. Have a good one," I said. I felt pretty foolish at this point. I didn't know who this young girl was. But, it was pretty clear that she could care less about talking with me. And, I've never been one to stand around and look stupid.

"Adios," she said.

As I turned to leave, I stopped. I had never really met anyone that brushed me off so easily. I was intrigued. What was this? My life had been hard. I had heard my parents fight about bills, spent some time with social services, and had my fair share of run ins with older guys. In reality, I got into fights because I liked the rush. I would never back down if challenged. I wasn't going to be a pushover…ever. But, what was going on with this person?

"What's up with you?" I said, spinning around.

"Are you still there?" she asked, looking up again, right into my eyes. This time, I met her gaze. She had dark eyes. It was as if there was no differentiation between her pupils and her irises. I had never seen eyes so dark. She exhibited a type of aloofness that only came from someone untouchable.

"Listen, I saw you in the tree that day. Sorry I didn't help," I said, finally allowing me to admit what I had been feeling for weeks.  
"I don't need help. I can take care of myself," she said, getting up to walk off.

"Is that why you were in a tree?" I asked, sort of chuckling and immediately wishing I could retract the statement.

"You do what you gotta do," she said turning away from me.

"How's your Mom?" I asked, showing her that I knew more about the situation than she thought.  
"She died," she said, still refusing to turn around. "Well, she got sent to prison first. But, she died after she got there."

I was left with a loss for words at this one. What do you say to that? I didn't know this girl. All I knew at this point were some lies she told me and a 2nd hand police report.

"My Mom died too," I said. It was all I could think of to say. Which, realizing now, probably was not the best additive. But, I never talked about my Mom to anyone. It hurt too much. It was strange I brought this up to a perfect stranger.

She turned around. I could see her struggling to fight back tears. This was a weird encounter. I felt comfortable around her. I appreciated, as young as she was, that she wasn't going to accept any of my cocky bullshit. She threw it right back at me. I appreciated that she could get me to come out with the truth. I appreciated that she made me realize how good my life had been. But, damn, why did I care about talking to her so much? I've never let people make me feel that guilty.

She didn't cry. That was the thing about Letty. She kept it all inside. I guess that was how she managed to have full conversations with just her eyes. That was where all her emotions were. And, if you knew her, you could just look in her eyes and tell exactly how she was feeling. It was pretty amazing, actually. But, at this point in our relationship, not knowing her and all, I was a little taken back.

What she said next was the most shocking thing of all…

TBC

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I'm pretty excited about where this one is going to go. Feel free to review. Feedback is always nice.

AJ


	3. Chapter 3

"I've been watching you," she said looking down at the ground and kicking the grass around with her foot.

"You've been watching me?" I asked, slightly weirded out by the fact that someone had been watching me and I wasn't even aware of. She must have been pretty good at it, too. There really weren't a lot of places to hide in and around my Dad's garage and our house. I had looked. She was pretty scrawny though. I guess that helped. And, thinking of her past actions, I never looked up in the trees.

"Not you, the garage, you guys fixing up the cars," she corrected.

"Oh," I said, a slight bit of ego drained from me.

"Well, I like cars and I like to be away from my house. It seemed to fit pretty well," she said as if it were a validation for stalking.

"Have you ever actually worked on a car before?" I said. I know there were often a lot of cars around her house, but I never saw any hoods popped.

"I used to watch my brother work on cars. He was a racer," she said.

"Really? What circuit does he race in" I asked, this had peeked my interest. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to start racing.

"The street circuit," she laughed sarcastically.

"Where is he now?" I said, looking around.

"He got killed," she said, finally sitting back down. She said this with more emotion than she had when she mentioned her mother's death.

"That sucks. I'm sorry. Did he get killed in a race?" I asked. I felt like I was prying but something about this girl fascinated me and I wanted to learn more.

"No," was all she said.

"Well, whenever school is supposed to get out then I am going back to the garage to help my Dad. If you ever want to stop just peeping and start helping I don't think he'd mind," I offered. My Dad loved teaching anyone about cars. He tried and tried with Mia but she just never had the interest. She knew all that she cared to know by the time she was about 8. "In fact I think he would prefer it to having some little girl stalking us."

She just rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. With that, I turned and started walking away- the direction opposite of the garage.

"Thanks," she said, barely audible. I didn't respond. I acted like I didn't hear her and just kept walking. I kept thinking about how strange that whole interaction had been. Why had I just invited her back to my Dad's garage? Then I started worrying that she would tell him I hadn't been at school. This was, of course, a ridiculous concern because she had not been at school either. But, my Dad took our schooling seriously. He had never graduated from high school and was determined that Mia and I would.

A few hours later, when I saw the school bus drive by its usual stop and drop off Mia, I ran up to her.

"Where were you today?" she asked, clearly pissed off. I had never seen a ten-year-old take school so seriously. We didn't go to the same school but it was pretty obvious that I had not been to any school.  
"Do you know that girl that lives down the street?" I asked pointing to Letty's house.

"I don't think so. Why? You got the hots for her?" she asked annoyed.

"No, she's not my type," I laughed.

"What, not trashy enough?" she asked.

"Not old enough. You should know me better than that, trashy has nothing to do with it," I laughed. I was such a smartass at that age.

"So, why didn't you go to school?" she insisted.

"Mia, my birthday is tomorrow. I'll be fourteen. I really don't think school is a big concern right now," I said. And that was the truth. At that point in my life, school was very low on the priority list. I knew that I didn't care about graduating. And, with the grades I had, it seemed like it may be a reality. Of course, I didn't want to deal with my Dad's reaction to that. I was destined to be a gear-head.

She gave me the look I deserved with that statement, "What?"

"Nevermind. Listen, don't tell Dad I wasn't at school," I begged, well begged as much as I was willing to. Before she could answer, we were at the garage.

"Hey guys," my Dad said, rolling out from under a car as he heard us walk up. "How was school today?"

Mia just glared at me. She was never one to appreciate the rules being bent. And usually she squealed on me. But, she did not today, for some reason. She just said, "fine."

"Dominic, how was school?" he asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"Same as always, I guess," and that was the truth. I doubted that it had changed much from last time I went. "Dad, can I talk to you? Alone?" This helped to change the subject. I didn't like lying to my Dad. It was better to just not mention things.

I didn't typically want to talk about anything. So, at this, my Dad figured it must be pretty important. I needed to give him a heads up about Letty. I figured if I could place the burden on his shoulders, it would save me a lot of confusion. He got up and we walked back into his office. He sat in his rolling chair and I sat in the chair beside his desk.

"So, there's this girl," I started. But, before I could keep going he got a knowing grin on his face.  
"Always a girl," he said. I did talk to him about girls occasionally. But, usually it was a much less wholesome conversation than I wanted to have right now.

"Well, this is a little different. I met that girl that lives down the street. The one that the cops came about a few weeks ago," I said, waiting for a reaction. When I did not get one I just continued. "Anyway, I don't really know what her deal is. But, she is really into cars. She seems lonely and really scared of something. I told her that if she needed somewhere to go, she could come by the garage and maybe we would teach her a thing or two about cars." This was mostly the truth.

"Something about this girl has caught your interest," he said. He knew me.

"She's probably Mia's age, Dad. I'm just trying to be nice," I said defensively.

"Dom, you always have other intentions with girls," he added.

"Like, she's ten," I added indignantly. For some reason, I could not take anyone thinking that I liked her. She was too young. It was creepy.

"Ten-year-olds grow up, son. Don't discount a girl that likes cars. They are few and far between," he said. This was actually very good advice. My Dad was exactly the way I wanted to be. He didn't speak unless he was going to say something good. He was strong, silent, the kind of guy that no one would fuck with. He seemed cold. But, he would show his softer side if he knew you well enough.

"Dominic, you know that she'll be welcome here. If we can help her than we should. But, you may want to find out exactly what is going on there. It may be a little more than we can handle," he said sensibly.

More than we could handle? What was that supposed to mean? I could handle anything.

So, with that ending, we went back to the garage. I was impressed with my Dad's reaction to the situation. When we walked back in, Mia was gone. She usually dove into her homework immediately after school ended. Sometimes, she would help my aunt at her mini mart/sandwich shop up the block. Either way, I was glad she wasn't there when Letty arrived. I didn't think Mia would care much for Letty's "leave me alone" attitude.

She walked up to the door of the garage about an hour after we started. I looked up from the hood of a Chevy and saw her standing there. She looked right at home. She didn't really walk past the doorway, but she looked around like it was Christmas morning.

"Hey, Letty," I said setting down the bolts that mounted the water pump to the fan clutch. I wiped my hands off on my coveralls and walked up to her. I stopped and picked up a shirt I knew would be big enough to cover all her clothes and said, "here, slip this on."

"Tony Toretto," my Dad said extending his hand to Letty's. She was hesitant at first, but shook it.

"Letty," she said.

"Well, Letty, Engines 101," he said taking her over to a car that had been towed in this morning because the engine wouldn't start. "Let me teach you about lack of compression and piston rings…"

He went on. He was very careful to explain everything to her. Granted, it took him twice as long to replace the worn out rings, but it was worth it. It was worth it to Letty anyway. I don't know how the car's owner felt about it. As it turned out, I didn't really have a lot of dealings with Letty in the garage that day. I was busy replacing a clutch fan.

I did notice, though, that when you got Letty under the hood of a car, she came alive. She was a different person. She was so interested. She talked a lot and asked a lot of questions. I even saw her smile that first day. And, it wasn't a sarcastic smile. It was genuine.

Things continued pretty steadily like that for a few months. Outside of the stop, Letty would shut down. I had tried to talk to her about her world but she never gave me any information. But, one morning, about six months after Letty became a permanent feature at the garage, I woke up. I stepped down out of my bed and felt someone. I looked down and saw Letty sleeping on my floor. I was still half asleep, but this got my attention. I looked around, as if expecting something to happen, but it didn't.

"Um, Letty, is there something I can do for you?" I asked confused and shaking her with my foot.

She looked up at me with the same desperate eyes I saw that first day she was in the tree. She sat up.

TBC

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AJ


	4. Chapter 4

"I didn't really know where else to go. I'm sorry. I didn't want to sleep outside because it was raining last night," she said. I sensed a bit of fear in her voice.

"Nah, I'm not mad. Just, well, why are you here?" I questioned. My brain was finally starting to work as I began to wake up. And, I realized that there was no way that I could figure this out if she didn't give me a little information. It is not like I frequently woke up with girls sleeping in my room…unfortunately.

She looked away. I followed her gaze. She was staring out the window and watching the remnants of rain droplets fall off the house. I waited for her to answer. I laid back in my bed. I had no clue what time it was but the sun was out and shining brightly through my window. I closed my eyes.

"Letty," I started, "I've been down with you sayin' absolutely nothing about this other life that you have outside the garage up to this point. I like to think I've respected your privacy. I mean, we've all got our secrets. But, I think when you wake up on my floor, I deserve a little bit of an explanation, you know? I don't care, you can tell me."

She let out a long sigh. "I don't think you really want to know. I think you are probably curious because I just haven't told you anything. But, I don't think that you _really_ want to know when it comes down to it. And, I don't want to put it all on you just to satisfy your curiosity," she said. This was very honest. I appreciated that about Letty. If she was going to bullshit you, she made it obvious. Otherwise, she was very honest. And, typically, very straight forward.

"Listen, I wanna know. I've wanted to know for a while but you're so damned closed off," I said, frustrated.

She chuckled.

"I can handle whatever you're gonna tell me," I added. "I can handle…whatever."

"You can carry the world, huh? Dominic, cut the crap," she said.

"Jesus, Letty, you're like eleven, okay," I said, really annoyed at this point. "I mean, what the hell do you have to hide?"

"So, you really think that you wanna know? You know, after you hear something, that's it. You can't ever not know it," she said. She was way to mature for an eleven-year-old. And, in all honesty, she was probably more mature than I was.

"Yeah," I said, copping an attitude with her. "I really think that I wanna know."

"Okay," she said with a slight laugh, shaking her head. "If you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you then I will kill you. May not now, because I probably couldn't. But, one day, I really will."

"Damn, alright. I won't," I said. I believed her this statement that she had just made. I sat up on my bed. She didn't move from the spot on the floor. She just looked at me.

"I'm supposed to be living with my aunt right now. She is the only one of my mom's relatives that lives in the US. My Mom is from Rosarito, Mexico. My aunt, she is 22. She probably home about 1 day a week, on a good week. Last night, she was home. She has a lot of boyfriends. Sometimes they just ignore me. Most of the time when she is there I leave and go sleep somewhere else. I've had too many of her boyfriends try to get, friendly, I guess you could say. I learned my lesson and now I just leave. But, last night I was already asleep before they got there. I woke up with some man in my room. I tried to leave but he grabbed my hair and burnt my arm with his cigarette. I finally kicked him in the balls and got out. That was when I came here. I just walked around outside for a while but I didn't know where to go and was really tired," she explained.

"Where was your aunt?" I asked. This was concerning. I had no clue that all of this was going on. No wonder she spent so much time at the garage. She essentially lived alone. It was pretty amazing how she had been able to hide that fact. If I had lived alone the house probably would have burned down and I'd die of starvation. But, every time I saw Letty she seemed to have her shit together.

"I dunno. I don't remember seeing her," she said.

"You can always come here," I added. I wasn't sure where she had gone before but it couldn't be too safe for her to just sleep in random places. "Where do you usually go?"

"Sometimes I go and stay with this girl who was friends with my brother. She moved up here from San Diego a couple of years ago. But, it's pretty far to her house and it was raining really hard," she said.

"What happened to your brother, I know you said he died, but…," I asked, still curious about the street racing.  
"Miguel. He was really the only person I remember taking care of me. I remember that he took me to my first street race when I was about five. We were living in San Diego then. I guess he just didn't want me to stay at the house with my Mom. He figured that he could protect me if I was with him. I went to street races with him for about three years. He never let me leave his sight. I would go the parties afterwards with him too. They were fun. People were always really nice and there was a lot of music. Sometimes he would have the parties at our house. At one of the parties, I remember that it was getting really late. A lot of people had already left. Miguel was talking to the girl that he was dating at the time. I decided to go to bed. A guy, another racer, named Juan came into my room. He got into my bed and started…well, you know. I started screaming and he just hit me. But, I guess, eventually Miguel heard. He came into my room and saw the guy. He jumped on him and they started fighting. Juan stabbed my brother seven times. He died on the floor of my room. I ran out of the house to the neighbors and they called the police. But, by the time they got there Miguel was dead. My Mom said that she didn't care about going to the funeral. But, I knew I had to go. So, I walked. I don't know how far it was, but it was pretty far. By the time I made it there it was over. I just stayed by his grave crying. I was there for a couple of days, I guess, until some policeman picked me up and took me back home. But, everything was so much worse after Miguel was gone. There wasn't anyone to help me," Letty finished. She started to get chocked up at this point- not enough to cry but enough to make her voice shaky.

I just sat there in silence. I was trying to let all the information she had just give me pour in. This wasn't really a complete picture, but it was pretty heavy stuff. I didn't think I could take much more at the moment. No wonder she had been hesitant to shake my Dad's hand. I'm surprised she wanted to be around guys at all. And, as always, Letty was right. As soon as she told me, I wished she hadn't. I knew that I had to say something. I had sat silent for long enough. But, what response follows something like that?

TBC

---

AJ


	5. Chapter 5

All I knew at that point was that I would have to protect her. I didn't know how. I mean, I was fourteen. But, from now on Letty would be my responsibility. I couldn't let people hurt her any longer. I felt protective. It was different than the way I felt protective of Mia. Mia was my sister, it was my job to protect her. But, this was a unique feeling that I had never experienced before. It wasn't a responsibility, but I wanted to protect Letty. I never wanted anyone to lay another hand on her. After hearing what she told me, I almost felt like I was betrayed. I hadn't done my job with her. I know that I had no control over what had happened to her in the past. But, I knew that I could never let anything happen to her from this point forward. She had become a part of me. Perhaps this had happened a while back, when I saw her in the tree. Or, maybe it happened just now. I couldn't put my finger on it. So, I said the only thing left to say.  
"I won't let that happen to you anymore," I said with as much maturity and seriousness as a fourteen-year-old could muster.

Letty just laughed in disbelief.

"I'm serious. I had no idea before. But I won't let anything happen to you now," I replied to her laugh, slightly downtrodden.

"That is not what I was tryin' to get at, Dominic. You wanted to know. I told you. That is where it should stop. I can take care of myself," she said with so much strength.

"How can you take care of yourself? You're too young. More shit is gonna happen if you don't do anything," I said defensively. I could not even imagine what she'd been through. And, knowing what I knew about Letty, there was a load of stuff she hadn't even mentioned. I couldn't bare to think about it. I wanted to go out and beat up everyone who had ever touched her right now. I didn't care if I won. If I could make them feel as bad as they made her feel than I had done my job.

"Dom, I know what you're thinking and don't even think about it. If I'd known it would turn into this I would have never mentioned it. Just stop, please," she begged. She looked at me with those eyes again. But, this time, it was different. Her eyes showed love. It was a look I did not recognize from her.

"Okay, fine. But, know that it's cool if you want to come here. I really don't care. I doubt my Dad would care either,"

"No, you can't say anything to him. You know, Dom, they'll put me in some orphanage or something,"

This was true. I could see her dilemma. No wonder she didn't trust me. She had a lot riding on the fact that I wouldn't say anything.

"So, why did you decide to tell me now," I asked curiously.

"I don't know, you asked. I woke up on your floor. I owed you something," she said.  
"Letty, you don't own anyone anything," I said. And this was true. The world had taken enough from Letty. She didn't need to go around feeling like she had to give back anything. A girl in Letty's circumstances would gain absolutely nothing from people letting her feel guilty. I could tell she already felt a lot of guilt and shame about her past. She didn't need more.

"So, your turn," she said, looking at me with eyebrows raised.  
"My turn for what?" I asked confused.

"I told you a secret. You tell me one," she insisted.

I smiled. I thought for a second. Despite that fact that my life had been unbelievably easier than Letty's I was just as closed off as she was. I didn't really have a good reason. I guess I felt like showing emotion was equal to showing weakness.

"Well…," she said after a few seconds.  
"I'm thinking, geez, give me a second," I said. What would I be willing to tell her?

"I lied," I finally said.

"About what?" she asked.  
"I am going to try to protect you forever," I said still smiling.

She just pushed me over and rolled her eyes. She climbed back out my window. I just laid on the bed and tried to make sense of what I'd just heard. That was sad. That had probably been the saddest thing that anyone had ever told me. I was starting to get really depressed just going over her words in my head. And then I stopped myself. This was making me too vulnerable. But, why? I guess, deep down, I knew that I really couldn't protect Letty- not right now anyway. I had seen some of the people that went in and out of her house in the past. They were big guys. I was big, but big for a fourteen-year-old. That really didn't compare. Letty was so fragile, I realized. She was somewhat short for her age and really scrawny. She could not protect herself. I knew that she was aware of this. That is precisely why she would just run away. She was clearly much better at avoiding situations or fleeing from them. This was slightly reassuring…slightly. I decided that if I just stayed in bed thinking about this all day then I would drive myself insane. I stood up and decided that I would have to start being more responsible. I would have to start keeping a much closer eye on Letty. And, most of all, I would have to start getting her to confide in me about stuff. I didn't life to talk. But, if that was what it took to never see that desperate look in her eyes again, I was willing to try for her. The next step was figuring out how I was going to do all of this. That would be the interesting part…

TBC

---

AJ


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: I am not Universal Pictures (try to hold down your surprise). I do not own the fast and the furious/any movie-related characters. I own a Mac and make this stuff up for personal entertainment. This disclaimer also applies to all previous and subsequent chapters because I don't want to be redundant. Happy reading, AJ

I loved summers in LA. I guess I loved anything that didn't involve school, though. June was never too bad, upper 70's. July was the month that was always so humid. My Dad's garage wasn't air-conditioned. They had plenty of ceiling fans strategically placed around but it never really got cool, just bearable. Of course, that was part of the entertainment. Having sweaty hands added the extra challenge of keeping a grip on your tools. It became a game. So far today it was me versus the sun. The sun was winning and my big toe was taking the loss pretty hard.

I had been leaving my window open every night in case Letty needed to a place to run to. I found her on my floor about once a week. I tried not to ask a lot of questions and she never volunteered information. I always kept a pretty close watch on her house, though, to see who was coming and going. Of course, as the weeks progressed she was spending more and more time at my house. She and Mia had not completely bonded yet. Mia was looking for a girl friend and Letty was looking for an education.

My dad and his buddies at the garage seemed to enjoy having Letty hang around. She was very eager and a fast learner. This was beneficial to a bunch of large, scruffy mechanics. Her hands were small enough to fit anywhere and she was willing to make the extra effort to appease them. This probably allowed her to learn more about the internal workings of a combustion engine than Vince and I ever would.

I never told Vince what Letty had told me the morning I found her on my floor for the first time. I would have preferred to never have to tell him about Letty sleeping on my floor but I felt this maybe unrealistic, at least to a degree. For some reason, I felt like I needed to shield her from everyone and everything- she was my personal responsibility. I enjoyed being the only person she was willing to confide in. I had never really played that role in someone's life before and it made me feel like an adult.

Vince came from an alright home. Alright is a very relative term. And, where we lived, there were very few homes that were pristine. Beaver Clever did not grow up in my neighborhood. I realized that I had, by far, the best home life of anyone living around me. Vince's dad had run out on his mother when he was very young. His mom was remarried. His stepfather pretty much ignored him completely about 60% of the time. But, the other 40% was pretty rough. During this 40% his stepfather drank a lot of whiskey. He was not one of those happy-go-lucky drunks. Instead, he was pretty volatile. When Vince hit adolescents the beatings became a lot worse. He was never hospitalized but it was still a very bad situation. On days when Vince saw his stepfather starting to drink he would spend the entire day at my house and go home just in time for bed. This would typically protect him from anything. But, I could see that it was starting to affect him more and more. He was growing much more capricious. This paired with his size, I suspected, could be a deadly combination. But, he was a good guy to have on your side.

On the 4th of July the shop closed early. My dad was having one of his famous barbeques. All the fellows from his garage were there with their wives or girlfriends. One of them had a son, but he was much older than Vince and I. Naturally, my dad invited Vince and Letty to come. He even told them that they could bring their families. I am not sure that either of them even mentioned it to their adult "caregivers" though. It was a fun party. My dad was a whiz at the grill. This was another skill he was attempting to teach me- the importance of perfect grilling. I took it to heart.

Mia was making sure that everyone had drinks and napkins, God love her. She was handing out plates and refilling chip bowls just as hard as she could.

As night approached, the fireworks started. I enjoyed fireworks, who doesn't? But I would have preferred to be working in the garage. Dad always said that you needed to take a break from work to live your life. Working with my dad was my life, always would be. This seemed silly to me. But, I didn't argue. So, I stood looking up at the sky with everyone else. I glanced over at Letty. Her eyes were so big. It reminded me of the first time she got to help install break pads. I had never seen someone get so excited about something most people would deem as mundane as break pad installation. But, that's Letty. It was the small things that made her world light up. And, tonight, it was apparently fireworks.

"You look very…intrigued," I said slowly and with fascination. I had never seen anyone look at fireworks like this before. I didn't see fireworks very often, mainly July 4th, New Years, and random other summer nights when kids would decide to have fun. But, this was even more fascinating than the fireworks to me.

"I've never really watched fireworks," she said almost automatically, still not taking her eyes off the sky.

"Really?" I asked surprised. Granted, Letty was not one to really make something like that up so it was a bit of a rhetorical question. I asked it nonetheless.

She didn't answer. She just kept looking up. At this point, I was used to asking Letty questions that never got answered. Something I learned about her very quickly was that she would tell you things in her own time. You could never rush anything out of her. And, if you tried, she would close up completely and then you had no chance of getting another peep out of her for a while. So, I let it go. I figured it wasn't important. I was just glad that she was seeing them now, with us. I stood there just watching her. She looked so innocent, just like any other kid. And, I think, at this moment she probably felt like any other kid. The burdens of her world were not on her right now. And, that was really cool to see.

"Dominic," Vince said quietly, walking up behind me. Letty ignored us completely and stood, glued to the sky.

"What's up?" I asked, turning to acknowledge him.

"Do you think I can stay here tonight. Peter, well, I don't think I should go home tonight. It's a holiday, you know? I don't really want him to celebrate with me," he said as nonchalantly as a fourteen-year-old kid that was scared shitless could say. I tried to play it cool, also, to help him maintain some dignity.

"No problem, anytime," I said. He knew this was true. But, unlike Letty, he was big and strong enough to handle his own problems most of the time. He knew his stepfather well enough to have invented a pretty successful system of avoidance. But, I knew that Vince was right. Tonight, his stepfather would be up late. And he would probably be pissed off about something stupid like the fact that a bunch of aristocratic colonialists didn't want to pay their taxes back in the 1770's.

Of course, I started to think, this put me in a bit of a dilemma. Given that the 4th of July was a pretty exciting time in LA, it may be a night that Letty needed a place to crash also. I didn't want to pussyfoot around the issue. I needed to talk to Letty about it. This had to be thought through, though. I didn't want to mention that I was going to tell someone else about the situation and violate her trust. I knew that she would not want Vince to know and I was afraid that if she thought I was going to tell him that she would try to act strong, shrug it off as no big deal. She would say that she wouldn't need to stay at the house and then might be placed in a situation that she needed escape from and have no where to go. I could not handle that. So I decided the best thing to do would be to go on the offensive.

"Hey Letty," I said, trying to break her trance.

"Hm," she said, still not looking at me.

"Why don't you crash here tonight? I think Vince is going to stay. It could be cool. We'll watch 'Ghostbusters' or something," I said attempting to make it sound enticing. I realized that I probably sounded pretty lame. But, around Letty, I didn't much care. And, honestly, there was not a single kid/adolescent at the time that wasn't always down with watching 'Ghostbusters' (I or II).

She finally stopped looking at the fireworks. She looked over at me. She stared into my eyes for what seemed like a very long time, probably only about 10 seconds though. Her eyes told me that she understood what I was saying. With as close to a 'thank you' as she could muster she said, "alright". She shot me a small, half smile then immediately averted her gaze back to the sky. I loved how well she understood me. Not even Vince understood me that easily and quickly. I enjoyed how our nonverbal communication often said so much more than our words.

Vince tugged at my shirtsleeve and pulled me over to the side. Here it came, I thought.

"What was that all about?" he asked confused as to why I would invite Letty to hang out with us outside the shop. He tolerated Letty really well at the garage. And, I think he was even starting to respect and enjoy her presence. But, I do not think he anticipated a girl so young joining our social circle.

I didn't want to divulge too much information. I was trying to stay a neutral party and hide everything from everyone- always a good idea. So I just said, "Hey, Letty's cool. Besides, she knows more about suspension than you ever will!" As if this had anything to do with her staying over.

"Nah, she's fine. But, why did you invite her to stay the night? You have a thing for her?" he asked suspiciously.

"Dude, she just turned twelve. That's gross," I said. I felt like he just accused me of having a thing for Mia.

"Hey no judgments," he joked. "But, so, what then?"

"It's like you, man. Sometimes she needs to just not go home," I said. I vowed that was all the information that I would disclose right now.

He saw a look in my eyes that he could always recognize. It was the all to familiar 'don't say anything' look. It took him a while to understand this look in the beginning. But it was the look I used when I didn't want him to mention anything about my skipping school around my dad. I guess he figured that I had my reasons and didn't mention it again. That was helpful.

I decided I should tell my dad. He was on his sixth Corona at this point and in pretty high spirits. I knew he would not care if Vince stayed. But, he needed to know about Letty.

"Dad," I said, walking up to him. Luckily his buddies did not surround him so it was easier to have a more private conversation.

"Vince and Letty are going to stay over," I said casually.

"Letty?" he asked raising an eyebrow. He just chuckled and shook his head. "You got a thing for her son?"

"God, why does everyone think that?" I asked exasperated.

He just smiled again and shrugged.

"No!" I exclaimed. "They both just need a place to crash, geez."

"That's fine. But, you keep your hands to yourself with Letty…and Vince for that matter," he joked.

I just rolled my eyes and walked back over to where Vince and Letty were standing. Me, like Letty? That would never happen.

TBC

---

AJ


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **see previous chapter- still applicable, AJ

The night that Vince and Letty stayed at my house was interesting. We never ended up watching the 'Ghostbusters'. In fact, we really just stayed up watching all of the fireworks. Vince and I could not seem to pull Letty away from them. Eventually we all made it back inside. My Dad had thrown a couple of old sleeping bags in my room for everyone to stay on. I started getting settled into my bed and Vince was laying out his sleeping bag. I saw the look on Letty's face. She did not feel comfortable sleeping next to Vince. That was ridiculous, I thought, she knew Vince. He was our friend, hung out with us everyday. I looked over at her. She was just holding the sleeping bag and looking around nervously. I knew what the problem was and thanks to all the assholes in her life she would probably always hate men.

"Letty, I'll take the floor. You can get the bed," I said opening up my hands for her to toss me the sleeping bag.

"Nah, it's cool," she said. But, then I met her eyes. She was actually scared. And, not scared as in frightened, but intimidated by the situation.

"Yeah, no, it works. This way Vince and I can talk about your strange obsession with fireworks without you getting pissed and punching us," I joked. Vince looked over at her, waiting for a response. After he averted his gaze from me, I looked right into Letty's eyes. I gave her a slight nod. I wanted her to know that it was okay. She didn't have to worry. This could still be her safe haven. I was there for her.

"Alright, sucks for you though because that floor looks pretty uncomfortable," she said. I went with her on that one. I wouldn't have called her out for the world. She knew it and took complete advantage of the opportunity. She chunked the sleeping bag at me, hitting me square in the face. Letty was awesome, because I knew I would have done the exact same thing.

"Easy!" I said raising my voice but clearly not caring at all.

"What? Can't take it?" She said, pulling my arm up and out so that I would move from the bed.

I didn't really respond but just shrugged, smiled, and said, "guess not." I couldn't insult her. There was just something about the way she always tried to act like such a badass that I really enjoyed. I didn't want to discourage this behavior. Besides, I realized that is was more of a coping mechanism than anything else.

We all settled down. It had gotten pretty late by this point. I could tell that Letty was out. I knew the way that she breathed when she was sleeping. It wasn't loud, just different, peaceful.

"Dude," Vince poked.

"What?" I said. I had started to drift off and wanted to slug him for distracting me from this.

"So, do you like her?" he asked, clearly wide awake.

"Who?" I was half asleep and couldn't imagine who he was talking about.

"Dude, Letty," he stated.

That's it, I thought. I mustered all the energy that I possibly had and slugged him. I couldn't tell exactly where I hit him but from the groans I would venture to guess that it was around his stomach.

"I was just asking," he said, still moaning.

"You got your answer," I said and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to someone stepping on my face. It was not pleasant.

"Sorry!" Letty said, pulling her foot back up.

"Ouch," I said without much emotion but there was pain behind it.

I yawned and stretched my arms. I wasn't used to sleeping on the floor. Letty had been right, it was uncomfortable. My back hurt. I looked over. Vince was already gone. Typical Vince.

"Morning sunshine," Letty said, full of life. How could she be awake?

I just yawned again and nodded, trying to wake up.

"Did you step on me on purpose?" I asked, starting to open my eyes.

She thought about this for a second. "Maybe."

"Uncool," I responded. I sat up a little bit and propped my pillow closer to the wall for support.

"Sleep well?" she asked.

"The floor is really uncomfortable. I don't know how you do it," I admitted. I had never been much of a boy scout. I enjoyed beds.

"Beats outside," she said. I nodded, agreeing with her on this point. It probably did. Luckily I had not slept on the ground too much to be able to have a fair comparison.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked, looking at my extremely comfortable bed.

"I did," she said, laying back down and sprawling out.

"So what's with you and fireworks?" I asked, chuckling. The best time to question Letty, I had learned, was first thing in the morning. She was most open during the hours of 7 and 10. I didn't know what time it was now, but judging from how tired I was, I guessed closer to 7.

She shrugged.

"Complete mystery, huh? Crazy how that happens," I said, ignoring her lack of response and laying back down. If she wasn't going to communicate, I was going back to sleep.

"4th of July has always sort of sucked for me in the past. I've never been able to watch fireworks. And, when I was in Mexico, they don't really celebrate America's independence day that much," she admitted.

"So you had fun?" I asked. I was glad.

"Yeah. It beats the 4th of July that my brother got killed or last year when I hid in the basement the whole night," she said.

"I would imagine," I said. Wow, those probably did suck. "Have you ever had a good 4th of July?"

She thought about it for a minute. "Maybe, but not that I can remember. But, a lot of the days sort of just run together. I've never been much of a holiday person."

"Holidays are awesome," I said.

"Yeah, holidays are cool. I've never really been around people who celebrated, you know, in a good way," she said sitting back up. "Till now, I mean. That was cool that your Dad invited me over."

"He's a pretty cool guy, for the most part," I said, recalling all his rules and lectures. For instance, if it had not been Dad's requirement to graduate from high school, I would drop out the day I turned 16.

With this, she threw a pillow at me. I removed it from my face. She had a knack of hitting my face. I cuddled up with it and laid back down.

"You have no idea how lucky you are do you?" she asked, an annoyed expression on her face.

"No, I do. Trust me. I do," I said opening back up my eyes.

"Then, why the act? Why do you try to act like such a badass?" she asked. Damn, she was an insightful twelve-year-old. She continued, "You've had it pretty good, Dominic."

"Me act like a badass? Kind of pot calling the kettle black there, huh?" I joked.

But, I thought about this question for a second. No one had ever asked me this question before. And, unlike most people, I felt a need to answer Letty's questions. I mean, if I expected her to answer mine…it was my Lot in life. Why _did_ I put up the act?

"I guess…I just want people to respect me," I admitted.

"Why do you think that they wouldn't?" she asked. That sucked, now I was going to have to do some soul searching at 7 a.m.

"I don't know. A lot of people at school have a lot of money and stuff. I have seen the way that people disrespect my Dad just because he's a mechanic. It's like they can't live without their cars but don't give a shit about the guy who fixes them. I don't want to be just another poor mechanic. I need to prove to them that I'm better than that. That the family is better than that. My Dad has worked really hard to make a name for himself. I just want to carry that a step further. I want people to know that it's more than just changing oil. I mean, my Dad can take a chassis and turn it into something that will take the half mile in less than 10 seconds. That's art. That deserves respect," I said. I think I was talking without thinking and then realized a lot about myself just then.

"So if you beat up enough people that will happen?" she said. Damn, that question sucked.

"Stop calling me out!" I said and threw the pillow back at her.

"Listen, you answer that and I'll answer a question," she agreed. Sounded like a good deal.

"No, beating people up doesn't earn respect in the shop. Dad taught me that much. That's street credibility, you know? You had a brother, you can understand that. But they aren't completely unrelated. If people respect me they will respect my work. I guess I don't know any other way to get respect. I don't want anyone messing with me, or Mia, you, anyone. And, it makes me feel more in control of my life," I said. I hadn't told anyone this much about they way I felt since my Mom.

She just nodded. "I understand where you're coming from," she said. "Alright, lay it on me. What's my question?"

I thought for a second. Of all the things that she hadn't told me, what was I most curious about? "What are you scared of?" I asked.

She hesitated for a few minutes, lying back in the bed. "Having no control, you know, over what happens to me. I mean, I really don't. I'm trying. But, it's really just avoiding more than anything. You know, sometimes it's hard to still care."

"About what?" I asked.

"Anything, I mean, anything that has been worth shit in my life has disappeared. Have you ever had anyone tell you that if you wanted something bad enough it would happen?" she asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," I laughed. I was instantly reminded of my Mom and when she was in the hospital.

"I used to sit and just think, as hard as I could, about being invisible. I wanted to be invisible so badly. But, they always found me. It never worked," she said completely emotionless. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"When my Mom got sick I would sit in the hospital room for hours and just think, wish, hope, pray, whatever you want to call it, that she would get better," I said. "She died."

"I'm sorry," Letty said, looking at me. Her eyes were filled with remorse. How, after everything she had been through, could she possibly feel bad for someone else? This was amazing. I was shocked. I just nodded. I hadn't talked to anyone about my Mom, not Mia, not Vince. But, I could talk to Letty. We understood each other. She loved to call me out on my bullshit, but not the stuff that really mattered. Few people could tell the difference.

"So, as you have pointed out so nicely, I beat people up. How do you want to take control of your life?" I asked her.

"I think that is why I want a car," she said. "It gives you that control. You can go anywhere you want and you can turn it into…anything." So that was where it all came from with Letty. It was her own way of gaining control over the chaos in her life. That made sense. For me, cars had been a family tradition, a lifestyle. But, for Letty, it went so much deeper than that. Just when I thought I had a shred of Letty figured out. Most girls were so superficial. Their emotions only went surface deep. But, this girl had heart. After all she had been through, she still had hope. She was holding on when there wasn't anything left to hold on to. All this time I thought that Letty was the one learning from me. I decided that I had some things to learn about life, love, and hope from Letty, and maybe suspension too.

TBC

---

AJ


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Yep, I still claim nothing, AJ

Letty had not stuck around long that morning. I pretty much stayed in bed trying to catch up on the sleep that I lost the night before. But, her words kept running through my head. Eventually I just decided to get up. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I went downstairs and saw Mia, zealously cleaning from the night before. I had to smile.

"You look terrible," Mia stated as I made my way to the kitchen.

"Thanks," I said, shooting her a sarcastic smile.

"Did you sleep?" she asked.

I shook my head, "not really."

"Alright kids," my Dad said walking into the room extremely cheerfully, "you guys ready to get started?"

He slapped my back. It woke me up enough to make me jump slightly. Get ready? I was ready to go back to sleep.

"Ready for what?" Mia asked, equally as excited.

"We closed early yesterday. We've got a full shop waiting for us," he said, grabbing a waffle that Mia had fixed.

"Oh, okay," she remarked.

Dad sat down at the table and looked me square in the eyes. He said, as serious as a heart attack, "did you drink last night?"

I wish that were my problem.

"No, I'm just tired," I said, laying my head down on my arms.

"Suck it up, we got work to do," he said, eating his waffle.

The entire day was blurry. I never fully woke up. According to one of my Dad's coworkers I helped install a clutch. I hoped it turned out okay for the owner of the vehicle because I didn't remember doing it at all.

I finally caught up on my sleep. But, it did not really matter. The rest of the month of July was fairly uneventful. We all got into a pretty good routine. I continued to leave my window open for Letty. Sometimes she would still be around when I woke up. Other times, she would just leave traces of the fact she had been there. I enjoyed waking up in the middle of the night and hearing her breathing. I would look down and watch her sleep. She actually looked sweet when she slept…that was the only time Letty could be described as sweet. But for that night, anyway, I knew she was safe. I was doing my job.

August rolled around quickly and school started back. I was in the ninth grade and Letty was in the seventh. This would be the first year we would be at the same school. I was pretty excited. I felt that it would add an extra ingredient of entertainment to see how Letty acted at school. Since she was growing closer and closer to my Dad, I knew that he was trying to keep tabs on her academic progress, if you could really even call it that.

The bus came the first day. I begrudgingly got on it, mainly because my Dad was watching from the kitchen window. Letty had not been at the bus stop. She was not on the bus. In fact, I did not see her the entire day. When the bus dropped me back off after school, I saw a car at her house that did not look familiar. I stepped off the bus as the door closed behind me. I stared over at her house. About two minutes later, Mia's bus dropped her off. She ran up, excited to tell me about the wonderful world of sixth grade. She was talking but I wasn't listening to a word she was saying. I was focused.

"Isn't that cool?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, sure," I had no clue what I was condoning but it was Mia, it couldn't have been anything bad.

"You weren't listening to me!" she said angrily.

"Yeah I was, sixth grade, blah blah, class stuff," I lied.

She punched me in the shoulder. I deserved it.

"Sorry, Mia, I'll listen to everything you just told me all over again in just a few minutes, okay? I have to go see about something," I said, trailing off towards Letty's house.

I walked up to the house. I didn't hear yelling. There weren't any bottles breaking. I wondered if anyone was home. I had never been over to Letty's house before, well not on the inside anyway. I looked up in the trees for her. No sign. I continued to walk towards the front door. I was kind of intimidated at this point. I did not completely know about the activity that went down over here, but I had a pretty good notion that it was not very wholesome. I figured, though, if Letty could handle it, so could I.

I made my way to the front door before my heart started to race. I was not really sure if this was something that I should be doing. I didn't want to invade her privacy but something about the whole situation seemed off. I wasn't sure what I was more intimidated by, the adults that were potentially standing on the other side of the door or Letty. I knew that Letty would not want me to come over here. But, she was an easier fighting partner than some cracked out man.

I knocked…nothing. There was not a doorbell. Should I knock again? I didn't know the rules on knocking. I knocked again. There was still not an answer. Maybe they went somewhere? This seemed pretty unlikely. I reached for the doorknob and contemplated the possibilities that could come from me walking in. I turned it extremely slowly. The door opened.

I just pushed it and stood outside looking in. There really wasn't any furniture. It was pretty dark for mid-afternoon. Other than that I could not really draw a lot of conclusions. I felt weird about just going in.

"Hello?" I said, quietly. Then, I said it louder, "Hello." There was still nothing. Should I walk in? I didn't want to. But, this was a little disconcerting. I was worried about her so I made a baby step towards the doorway.

Alright, I thought, I'm acting ridiculous. Just do it!

I walked inside. I looked around. I got a better view of the house. There was furniture. It was turned over. The house was a wreck. It was dirty. There were beer bottles everywhere. I didn't want to turn on a light, though. If I was intimidated walking into this house I could only imagine how Letty felt every single day.

"Letty," I called out. I thought about it for a minute and figured that since I still had not heard or seen another person it was probably safe to look around for her. I walked around the downstairs without seeing any trace of life. I saw a staircase and made my way up. There were a couple of doors, mostly closed.

"Letty," I called out again.

"Dominic?" I heard her yell.

Finally, I had almost found her. "Where are you?" I asked.

"Second door," she called back out.

Did that mean to the right or left? I was closer to the right door so I took a chance. I opened the door. I saw a room, very white. It had a bureau and a bed. Letty was laying up on the bed. She looked so small, curled up in a fetal position.

"What happened?" I asked, approaching her slowly.

"Nothing. I'm just tired," she clearly lied.

"Cut the shit," I said, sitting down on the bed next to her. "Talk to me."

She shook her head no and bit her bottom lip.

I just sat there beside her. I wasn't going to push her. But it was obvious that things were not kosher. She laid there, looking off into space. It took about twenty minutes before she spoke a word.

"How was school?" she asked casually.

"What? Oh, um, school? It was school, you know. I didn't learn anything," I said. How was school? What an odd question. I never wanted to talk about school. But, then Letty never wanted to talk about her life so I guess it was fair.

"How was your day?" I asked, attempting to be casual but failing miserably.

"Probably worse than yours," she admitted.  
"I would have guessed," I said, still trying to give her the space she needed.

She turned over on her back and I saw her right eye, it was black. I fought back all temptation not to say anything about it.

"My aunt got a new boyfriend," she said.

"I see that," I commented.

"It sucked, actually," she said, pulling her legs up to her stomach.  
"Is there something wrong with your stomach?" I asked.

"I'll be okay," she said. She always tried to be so strong. She was a rock. The thing about Letty was that it wasn't an act. Letty was strong. She endured. She took it and would have kept it all to herself if it weren't for me. I knew that. But it made me even happier that I could be there for her. Of course, clearly I had not been there for her today. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. I had failed her. I told her I would help her and look what happened.

"Letty, I swear, things are going to get easier," I said, reaching down and touching her arm that also had a giant bruise.

"Really? How do you figure?" she said looking at me, her eyebrows showing immense curiosity mixed with sarcasm.

"I don't know. I'm not going to lie to you. I don't really have an answer to that. But I feel like there has to be a way. We can figure something out," I said. She was starting to fold up. I was really afraid that soon I would not see any of that spark that made Letty so awesome before.

"So you think that just by saying 'it's going to get easier', these words, things are going to change?" she asked indignantly.

"No, I know how you feel about words. You don't think they mean shit. That isn't necessarily true. Sometimes someone's words do mean shit. And, Letty I've done all you would let me do up to this point. But, I can do more to help you," I said.

"What are you going to do Dominic? You're a kid, regardless of the fact you don't want to admit it, you are. I am too. And, there is nothing I can do. You play the cards you were dealt. I got a shitty hand," she said, looking away.

"Well let's redeal," I said.

She just smiled.

"No, that's not something you just accept," I argued.

"Why? I feel like my entire life I've been avoiding accepting this. Isn't it about time that I see my life for what it really is? I can't escape it," she said, still refusing to make any eye contact.

"Four years you'll be sixteen and you can," I explained. It was all I could think of.

"Four years?" she laughed.

"Letty I don't really know what to say. But, I don't want to see you walk away from everything and surrender to all this," I said. I noticed this as a really crucial moment in her life. She was going to decide to make something of her life or turn into something unrecognizable, something really sad.

"Dominic, this is why I didn't want to involve you," she said, turning over, her back now facing me.

"Don't hold it all inside! Let someone help you damnit!" I yelled. I felt bad yelling at her but I couldn't think of another way to get through to her and I needed her to hear me.

I saw her shoulders start to tense. She started crying. This really freaked me out, honestly. I had never seen Letty cry, ever. Was she crying because I'd yelled at her? I hoped not. That would make me feel pretty bad. But I assumed that it was a mixture of all the day's events or all her life events. I just sat there for a moment. The only girl I had ever dealt with while crying was Mia. Letty was nothing like Mia. This was foreign territory and it scared the shit out of me. I just sat there for a second, contemplating my next move. Should I touch her? Should I leave her alone? Should I go get Mia? I laid down beside her and wrapped my arm around her. I pulled her close. She was crying really hard at this point. But, then she just stopped. It was very strange, like she cried all the tears that she had. She turned back over on her back. I still had my arms around her.

I had not even noticed the radio at this point. But, just then, Letty started singing Janis Joplin. Under normal circumstances, I would have made fun of her. This did not seem like the time, though.

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, nothing…" she sang, quietly.

"What the hell are you listening to? I never realized you were such a big Joplin fan," I joked.

She didn't respond. Typical. "My Mom used to love Janis Joplin. How about John Denver? She liked him too. Do you have any of that?" I asked trying to lighten the mood a little.

She chuckled, shook her head and said, "My Mom liked him too."

"Why did your Mom go to prison?" I asked.

"Technically, she robbed some store. But, she owed her drug dealer money. That was the guy that was over here the day I was up in the tree," she said. She had never been willing to answer this question before.

"So why were you in the tree?" I asked.

She shrugged, "seemed like as good a place as any to hide from a drug dealer."

"That's a good point," I agreed.

"But, he ended up finding me, and her. He beat us both up pretty badly. I wasn't sure how I got pulled into the mix but I always do," she said looking down at her bruised arm. Letty was a product of circumstance. I wanted to do everything I could to change those circumstances.

I moved my arm to get situated a little bit and accidentally hit her stomach. She let out an amazing gasp of pain.

"I'm sorry!" I said. Damn, what did I just do?

She tried to hide the reaction but it had already come out. I realized what had just happened. I took the sheet and lifted it. She was wearing a tank top. I lifted the bottom of her tank top to reveal some horrible bruises on her stomach and abdomen.

"Maybe you should go to a doctor," I said as she pulled her shirt down extremely quickly.

"No! I'm okay," she said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because, it's fine," she said, not really answering the question.

"Do you want to come stay at my house?" I asked. It was really all I could offer at this point that I thought she would accept.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "But, don't say anything to your dad!"

"Alright, but how are you going to explain that shiner?" I asked pointing to her black eye. I knew that my dad would want to know what had happened. He wasn't a fool. He knew something was going on at Letty's house.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I got in a fight? That's true," she said. She had a knack of stretching the truth. I think it was her way of creating her own reality.

"I think you should just tell him," I admitted.

"No!" she shouted. I don't think she meant to get quite so loud. "I won't. And you can't either. Please, Dominic. You are the only person I trust. Promise me that you won't tell anyone."

Wow, what a moral dilemma. Despite my better judgment I said, "I promise."

TBC

---

AJ


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Claim nothing, don't sue, you really wouldn't get anything anyway…AJ

I didn't say anything. God, I wanted to. I assumed that I was biting off more than I could chew with this whole situation. I was fourteen. She was twelve. This responsibility was way more than either of us could handle. But, she acted like it was no big deal. Unfortunately, I think she was used to it. She came up with a pretty good lie about the black eye to tell my dad. She told him that she got into a fight with another girl on the first day of school. She made up some story about the girl calling her a name and then the two of them having it out. She was even willing to endure a lecture from him about how fighting never solved problems. Yeah, with Letty, it was a waste of breath.

I don't think she liked lying to my dad. I honestly believed that she felt that she had no other choice. And, when the second day of school rolled around, she made up a very elaborate story for her new teacher. Letty had this uncanny ability to lie to people. And, if you didn't know her and didn't know how to look past her bullshit façade, you would buy it in a heartbeat. Besides, believing a story is a lot easier than dealing with someone's reality. I always wondered if she started to believe these stories that she told everyone. If you say something enough it may not happen but you just may start to believe it.

After a few weeks into the semester Letty started attending all of her classes fairly frequently. She missed about one day a week. But, her reasons for missing were never anything as serious as that first day. Letty did not see the point in going to school. And if there was no one at her house, she would typically stay home. It was when her aunt and whatever 'boyfriend' she happened to pick up that week were home that Letty made it to school. School was another place for her to escape to. But, she didn't really do anything while she was there. I found myself watching out for Letty at school like I did on the block. During class change, I would always scan the halls and try to find her.

There was no point in me trying to convince Letty about the usefulness of school. She could always see right through any lectures I tried to give her on responsibility. I knew there was no way I could talk about it with a straight face either. I, like Letty, didn't see the point of school. But, I saw the point of making my dad happy. So, I kept my grades average. Letty, well Letty was plenty intelligent. She just didn't try. She never did her homework and rarely turned in any assignments. When she would put forth the effort she would make good grades. But, Letty didn't have anyone to make her do her homework so she just didn't. I'm not sure what she did when she wasn't at the garage, but it wasn't academic.

The school was, essentially, divided into wings. She was on the 7th grade wing and I was on the 9th grade wing. But, luckily, shop class was past the 7th grade wing. During the class change, before shop, I would go pick up Letty from her Spanish class and walk her to English. Spanish was the only class Letty enjoyed, because she didn't have to try to get a good grade. So this was an enjoyable time to talk to her. Plus, I knew how much she hated English and was trying to keep her from skipping. We would never talk about anything serious, mainly just shoot the breeze. But, it gave me an opportunity to keep tabs on her. I also wanted to make sure that none of the 7th grade punks were even considering trying anything.

One day just after Thanksgiving break , I was walking to shop class. I made my way to Letty's Spanish class and she wasn't in there. But, there was a large commotion in the hallway. People starting running and cheering. In junior high, this was a sure sign of a fight. So I followed the masses to go watch. Fights were the most exciting part of school. However, the excitement of this particular fight faded quickly after I noticed who was fighting. It was Letty. And, she was fighting some guy. Well, I don't know if you could call it fighting. The guy was essentially getting his ass handed to him. I laughed. That was awesome.

When Letty decided to let the poor guy up he tackled her and hit her square across the face. This was not something I was going to sit back and tolerate. I pushed my way through all the 7th graders, and a couple of random others who had strayed in from the other wings for some amusement. I walked up to the young guy and pulled him off Letty. I threw him up against the wall into the half lockers. His body made a very loud sound as it hit the metal. Letty stood up and wiped the blood away from her nose.

"You don't need to be hitting girls," I said getting up in his face.

"Who the hell are you?" he said trying to push by me, unsuccessfully.

"I may be your worst nightmare if you don't back the hell up off her," I said. I noticed Letty running up, attempting to tackle him again. I grabbed her with my left arm and held her back.

"Dominic!" she yelled.

"We'll talk about this later," I laughed and shook my head.

"Teachers!" someone yelled. I saw a few teachers and the vice principal come walking up. Shit. If I got suspended again for fighting my Dad would have killed me. And, I knew that the situation looked pretty bad, what with me holding Letty back with one arm and pinning the punk against the locker with the other.

"Come with me," I said, grabbing Letty's arm as I tossed the guy back one more time. "Don't say nothing to the teachers," I threatened him.

I pulled Letty to the door leading out to my shop class. But, instead of stopping at class, we just kept walking. If she stuck around, she would have gotten into trouble. If she got into trouble, they were going to tell her aunt. If they told her aunt, well, I didn't want to find out what would happen. So, I did the only thing I knew to do. I took her away from the situation before it got worse.

We walked a couple of blocks in silence.

"What the hell was that back there?" I asked, still walking. I didn't really know where I was going.

"That guy was being a jerk," she said.

"What did he do?" I asked, stopping.

"He was talking shit and he grabbed my ass, twice. So, I decided to kick his," she said shrewdly.

"What did he say?" I said, getting extremely pissed about the ass grabbing behavior but figured I should get all the details and then measure my level of anger.

"He was just saying shit about my family, or lack thereof, and how I ain't going to do nothing but end up on the street and shit," she said, without really elaborating. Clearly there were holes in this story.

"Wow, really? Has this been going on for a while or did this all happen today?" I asked. Rarely do events like this happen all of a sudden.

"For a while. He asked me out earlier in the year and I wouldn't go. So, he's been a jerk ever since," she said. This made me really mad. Not only did someone have the nerve to ask out Letty but he also had the nerve to be a jerk to her. This was something I was going to have to deal with. School was one of Letty's safe places. And, I'd be damned if this asshole was going to screw that up for her.

"What's this punk's name?" I said. I didn't know any of the 7th grade guys. But, I sure wanted to meet this one.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just curious," I lied.

"I'm not going to tell you," she said. She knew what I wanted to do.

"Why?' I asked, but knowing the answer already.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked digging deeper.

"I want to go talk to him," I said. This was partially true. I would probably say some things to him.

"No you don't. You want to go fight him," she said, calling me out.

"It's not really a fight if you just get your ass beat," I admitted. I was not at all afraid of this little punk.

"Dominic, I've got it under control. You saw. I can take him," she said, sounding so tough and confident.

"Letty, you shouldn't be fighting," I started but she interrupted me.

"Maybe you should take your own advice," she laughed.

"If you'd let me finish. I was going to say that you shouldn't be fighting at school. And you shouldn't be fighting guys," I said, starting to talk again.

"Why not?" she asked confused.

"Because you're going to get hurt. And, you're going to get in trouble and they're going to tell your aunt," I said, trying not to show as much concern as I felt.

"She'd never find out. I haven't even seen her in two weeks," she said, looking at the ground as we walked.

"Where is she?" I asked. Two weeks, she had been staying by herself for two weeks? That couldn't be right. She had stayed at my house at least four or five times in the past two weeks. But, I didn't want to question her about that.

"I don't know," she said without feeling.

"Are you cool to stay by yourself?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said.

I was skeptical about this. But, she was still coming by my house regardless. I thought about her reasoning for coming by even though she wasn't in danger. Maybe she was just bored. Maybe she was lonely.

"Well if you want to stay at the house till your aunt gets back I doubt Dad would care," I finally said. I wanted to give her the option.

"Dominic, I stay there when my aunt is around. When she's not I'm fine," she said.

"Alright, whatever. I was just saying. So what do you want to do? We can't really go back to school now. And, I don't want to just walk around all day," I said.

"Let's go to the beach," she suggested.

"Alright," I said. It was kind of cold but I hadn't been to the beach in a while.

We made our way down to the beach. The wind was chilly. But the shore was totally isolated. I guess November is not a big beach time for many. Of course, it may have had something to do with the fact that it was 1:00 on a Tuesday. Most normal people were at work, or school. But, I'd much rather have been at the beach than at school.

"I dare you to get in the water," Letty said.

I laughed. That was cute. "No, I don't like to freeze. It's not really my style," I responded. "But if you want to get in the water knock yourself out."

She just sat down in the sand. She started burying her feet deeper and deeper.

"Dominic, why do you care so much? About me, I mean. Why do you do all this?" she said, staring at her feet.

I shrugged. She looked up at me and I avoided her gaze. I was sort of embarrassed by this question. Why did she have to ask this?

"Well, you can think about it. I have plenty of time. I've got no plans today," she said.

Oh goody. Why did I care? Was it guilt? If it had been at the beginning, it wasn't anymore. But I don't know if it was ever guilt. I think it was something deeper but something I couldn't identify. Of course that was no answer that Letty was going to except. Nor was that an answer that I was going to give her. I thought about it. I had never been awesome at expressing my emotions, especially since my Mom died. But, I wanted to answer. I didn't want to pull a Letty and avoid all questions.

"I guess that I just think you're cool, even if you are just a kid. You are good with cars and, I don't know, I've never really met anyone like you," I finally said, quietly.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Damn, did I really have to keep going with this did I? I was getting a little uncomfortable.

"I don't know, Letty. I mean you understand me. And you trust me. I just like helping you. It makes me feel useful, I guess. I like making sure that you are alright. It makes me…happy. Besides, you are pretty much the only person I feel comfortable talking to. Well, not so much right now, but usually," I said, now looking at my feet. Apparently this conversation made feet really interesting.

"Why not now?" she asked.  
"Because you asked me why I cared about you," I shook my head.

She punched me in the arm. "Don't be gay," she laughed.

"What? That was what you asked," I said confused. How did that make me gay?

"You're so sentimental," she mocked.

"Yeah, that's me," I said, relieved that we were changing the subject. I'd much rather talk about my heterosexual, not homosexual, preference than my feelings.

"Well, besides my brother, I don't think anyone ever really has, so thanks," she said, quickly.

"So, what was that guys name?" I asked again, keeping the subject diverted away from feelings.

She laughed. "Do you promise me you won't fight him?" she asked.

"No," I responded honestly.

"Come on Dominic!" she said irritated.

"Letty, I promise you to never make a promise to you that I won't keep," I said, somewhat out of nowhere. Then I thought about it, wow, that was a lofty promise. But, I could do it. I didn't want to ever be the one that brought that look into her eyes of despair. I wanted to be the one that made it go away.

"Hm. Okay. Cool," she replied. "Diego Rodriguez."

"He's not in 7th grade," I said. I knew that guy. Well, I didn't know him. But, I had heard of him. He was an all-around jerk to girls. I guess I didn't recognize him with blood on his face.

"I never said he was. He's an 8th grader," she replied.

"Why was he on your wing?" I asked.

"He flunked Spanish last year. He's in my class," she laughed.

"Isn't he…Latino?" I asked, curiously.

"Yeah," she continued to laugh. "His parents immigrated."

"Alright," I said. I shook my head. Diego. He really had it coming from a couple of different directions. I figured I would be doing the world a favor. But, mainly, it would make me feel better. I considered whether or not to take Vince with me, just for emphasis. I decided that if he heard about the fight I would take him. If he hadn't, I would not tell him.

"Don't get in trouble Dominic," she warned.

"Trouble's my middle name," I said with a cocky grin on my face.

"Jackass," she said.

TBC

---

AJ


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I disclaim, AJ

"Why weren't you in sixth period?" Vince whispered to me after my Dad walked back to the office.

"Because I left before shop," I replied.

"Did you miss the fight?" he asked.

"Did you see it?" I asked, avoiding the question.

"No, I _went_ to class," Vince said. I just laughed. I know Vince wasn't giving _me_ a hard time about not being in class when he missed every opportunity he got.

"Good for you. You can give me the notes, then," I said flippantly.

"I didn't say I took notes. But I was there," he replied.

"Do you know who was fighting?" this was the best way I could think to word the question without lying to my best friend.

"I heard that Letty was kickin' some dude's ass. But I don't know who," he said, as if he had just told me some extremely interesting information.

"It was Diego Rodriguez," I replied. Vince looked surprised that I had more details about the event than he did.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Because I know all," I said cockily. Vince just laughed and shook his head. "No, I saw it. But that prick punched her after she let him up. I, uh, intervened, and then Letty and I left so she wouldn't get in trouble," I admitted.  
"That's…" he hesitated.

"What?" I asked.

"Nice and really unlike you," he said bluntly.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. Jerk. He was right, though. It was unlike me. I was typically not going to stick my neck out for anyone, except maybe him and Mia- and now Letty.

"You know what I mean," he said. I did know what he meant. He was happily oblivious of Letty's real life and the relationship that we had. I wasn't about to share any more information.

"So what are you doing tonight?" I asked with a devilish grin on my face.

"I don't know," he said giving me suspicious look. "What am I doing tonight?"

"Want to go kick that Diego guys ass with me?" I asked. Vince loved to fight. Any opportunity Vince had, he would fight. He was really good at it. We all have our own unique skills and talents. At this point in our lives, Vince probably could have beaten me up. Of course, I would never have admitted that to anyone. We were both pretty big for our age, but Vince had a lot of experience fighting with his step dad.

"Hell yeah!" he said, getting really excited. "Where?"

"I don't know. I don't know him. Who does he hang out with?" I asked. I knew we weren't going to his house. That was just asking to get arrested.

"I don't know but I think he busses at his uncle's restaurant, uh, Calimas," he said.

"Well, we'll have to go see if he wants to hang out after he gets off work," I suggested.

I didn't even notice that Letty had walked in. She was standing directly behind us.

"Oh, can I come?" she joked.

We both jumped a little bit with the sound of her voice. I knew it was her and didn't want to turn around. Damn. I guess we should have talked somewhere Letty would not be, like school.

"Damn, Letty, don't sneak up on people," I said, still a bit shaken.

She smiled. "Who's sneaking? You are the ones being sneaky. This is a garage, not the girls' bathroom," she said, trailing off to go put on a work shirt.

Did she just call us girls?

"We'll find him, it's cool," Vince nudged me and spoke quietly before continuing to work on the piece of shit Honda someone brought in earlier that day.

We all worked for a couple of hours until Dad closed the garage for the day. I had gotten so focused on my work that I forgot what Vince and I had planned for the evening. This was how Vince and I were dissimilar. I knew that he was focusing on the fight and only working to pass the time.

"I will see you at the house, son," Dad said, leaving me standing with Vince and Letty.

"I'll be along," I told him. I looked over to Vince and saw that sparkle in his eyes that most kids get on Christmas morning. It wasn't Christmas yet. But, to Vince, fighting was better than Christmas.

"You ready?" he said, tapping my arm.

"You guys don't even know where you are going," Letty smiled.

"It's LA, he could only be so many places," I joked.

"Do you know where he is?" Vince asked her.

"I wouldn't tell you if I did," she said, walking off towards her abandoned house.

"She does. Go ask her," Vince said.

"You go ask her. You're acting like a damn spider monkey on crack," I joked, pushing him in Letty's direction.

He ran up to her. They talked for a few minutes while I just stood back and watched.

"Alright, we have to get to Chester Street, somehow," Vince replied, walking back with a little jump to his step.

"She told you?" I asked, shocked.

"Of course," Vince said with an arrogant grin on his face. This really surprised me. Why would she tell him? She had been pretty obstinate about me even knowing who he was earlier. And, she told Vince just like that. I shrugged it off and just gave him a little push.

"Well that's like twelve miles. That's not where he lives is it?" I asked.

"No, apparently everyone in her class has to work on some Spanish project. And he had talked to her about going over to David McCord's house to do it tonight. And I know where David lives," he said, as if I should know this David character.

"Who the fuck is David McCord?" I asked.

"Just some 7th grade punk," he responded.

"You hiding 7th grade friends from me?" I mocked.

"Yeah, all this time. I've been running off hanging out with 7th graders and not telling you," he joked. "Nah, I lived near him before we moved out here."

"I'm still not walking twelve miles," I said. It was already 5. By the time we walked twelve miles, I doubted they would still be working on whatever project they had. No one was that studious.

"That Honda in there is running pretty well now," Vince suggested, pointing at the garage.

"What the hell?" I said.

"Like anyone would know," he pushed. "Besides, that dude tried to fuck up Letty. We can't just let him walk."

He was going to play it like that, huh? Pulling the Letty card. Damn. He got me.

"Alright. But, I'll drive because you can't drive for shit," I said, pulling my keys out of my pocket and unlocking the garage. This was a bad idea. But, it sounded like a lot of fun. Vince was a bad influence. Or at least that was my defense and I was sticking to it.

My Dad had been teaching me to drive since I could walk. I was confident enough in my driving ability. But, I was not extremely confident in taking someone else's car out of my Dad's garage to go find some kid to beat up. It didn't seem to stop me from getting the key to the car from the office and unlocking the doors. Vince hopped in the passenger side. He looked so excited. I had to laugh. I cranked the engine and pulled out.

I handed Vince the key to the garage. "Go lock it back up. I don't want it to look suspicious," I said. If Dad happened to drive by and saw the door open I was pretty sure he would know something was up. After Vince locked back up and jumped into the car, I pulled onto the main road. I had never driven in the car without my Dad. It was fun. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. It had never crossed my mind before to actually take any of the cars out after my Dad left for the night.

Vince turned on the radio and I opened the windows. I drove, trying my best to keep it within the speed limit. Getting pulled over for speeding would not lead anywhere good. We pulled onto Chester Street.

"Which house?" I asked. I didn't really know what we were going to do after we found the house. Vince and I never really went looking for people to beat up. It was typically more spontaneous than all this.

"It's that one," he pointed. We parked down from it a bit and just sat there.

"So, how do we know if he's there?" I asked. I didn't want to sit around and wait if he'd already left.

"I don't know, Letty said he would be," Vince replied.

"Alright, well I guess we'll just wait?" I asked.

"Sure, I don't have anything else to do," Vince said.

We just sat there for about an hour. We played paper football and talked about people from school and cars from the garage. Vince spent the better part of the hour trying to convince me to go out on a double date with him. Double dates were not really my style but I knew I would do it in the end, for Vince.

"Dude, he's probably not even still here," I complained.

But, right after the words came out of my mouth I saw Diego leaving the house and walking down the street. "Shit, there he goes," I said, pointing him out to Vince.

Vince and I got out. He still looked so excited. I locked the car and put the key in my pocket. Vince was already half way down the block approaching him. This wasn't really the kind of street that we needed to fight on, though, so I called out to him. It was far too residential and light.

"We can't just jump him here," I said to Vince. He stopped walking. Diego still hadn't noticed us.

Diego turned down some random side street and Vince and I smiled at one another. That was a better location. Vince took off after him. I picked up my pace, but was not running. By the time I got to the street, which was much less residential, much more vacant businesses, Vince already had him pinned up against the wall and was talking to him, or rather yelling. But, I was impressed with Diego's forthrightness.

"Dude, what the fuck is your problem?" he asked, pushing Vince's hand down. That was clearly a mistake. Vince took that hand and hit him square across the face.

"Hold up a second, Vince. I want to ask this dumbass a question," I said, walking up. Diego looked at me like he had remembered our interaction earlier that day.

Vince picked the guy up, his nose already bleeding.

"Why you been given Letty shit? That was a mistake," I said, getting up in his face for the second time.

"Dude, I hadn't done shit to her," he said looking me square in the eyes.

"Wrong answer," I said taking all the anger I had built up from today and hitting him in the face. I didn't let him fall over, though. I held him there. "Try again."

"I'm sorry," he said, spitting out some blood.

"Still didn't answer my question," I said, this time hitting him in the stomach.

He let out a pretty pathetic moan. I looked over at Vince. He looked like a hungry coyote that was being held back from its kill. I didn't really know what answer I was looking for, but I figured he would never give me the right one.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked.

"This kid's an idiot," I said to Vince, allowing him to come back in. He was having a blast giving this kid a hard time.

"You think it's fun to hit girls?" Vince asked, hitting him pretty damn hard. He hit him a few more good times before I tapped his arm, signaling him to back off.

"I heard you give shit to girls all the time. Uncool move," I said getting back up in his face.

"I won't," he said, though it seemed very difficult for him to speak. He was pretty bloody at this point.

"If I see you even look at Letty again, I swear, you won't be walking away from the next fight," I said, hitting him one more good time before Vince and I walked off.

We were still floating from the adrenaline rush that comes from a fight, especially a fight you clearly won. However, I would not describe this as a fight. This was a lesson. And, hopefully for Diego's sake, a lesson well learned. I looked back and saw him sitting there. I knew he would be okay but did not anticipate him being in school the next day, or the rest of the week really.

We walked back up to the car and got in. We didn't really say much on the drive back. We each had a little bit of blood on our shirts. But, we were basking in the rush of everything that had just happened. I was really enjoying driving. The air was cool, but it felt awesome, freeing.

I turned the car back onto my street. I couldn't believe this had been that easy. I hadn't even seen a cop the entire drive. I turned up into the garage.

"Shit," I said pulling up. I looked straight ahead locking eyes with my Dad who was standing by the garage door. My soul sank.

TBC

---

AJ


	11. Chapter 11

"Dominic! Get out of the car," Dad said sternly. He wasn't yelling but his voice was cold and angry.

I didn't want to get out of the car. I knew what awaited me- trouble, lots and lots of trouble. For a brief second I contemplated hitting it into reverse and speeding away from him. But, I realized that would only end very badly. So, I turned off the car. I looked over at Vince. He wasn't smiling anymore. He had gotten extremely pale. He looked over expecting me to dictate the next move. I let out a long sigh and opened the car door. I stepped out of the car. I wanted to run. But, instead, I walked up to him, ready to face the music.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked harshly.

Oh man. There was no getting out of this one. We were caught red handed. I didn't know if Dad had noticed the blood on our shirts or not but I was sure that he would. I didn't know how to answer him. I certainly didn't want to tell him the truth. But, it was pretty obvious. We had stolen the car. We were fourteen and had taken someone else's car that they entrusted to my Dad and driven around Los Angeles. I thought that it sounded a lot worse than it was. But, I did not imagine that he would see it that way.

"I don't know," I said. I decided an ambiguous teenage answer was my best bet at this point.

"You don't know?" he said, pissed. "Son, you're going to have to do better than that."

"We were just driving around," I said.

"Mr. T, it was my idea. I suggested that we take the car," Vince said. I looked over at him. He looked like he was going to throw up. Or was that me? I was impressed that Vince admitted to this.

"I don't care who's idea it was," he started. "I can't believe you two would take this car. This is my business. This is how I support you and your sister. If something had happened to the car do you know how much that would have cost us? I never could have imaged you two would be so stupid. You could have gotten arrested or killed," he yelled.

"But, we're okay," I added.

"You aren't going to be when I get through with you," he yelled. He screamed some more, a lot more. He talked about responsibility and family and being a man. He talked about respect and trust and how he had lost both of those for us tonight. I didn't hear every word that he said, though. I tried to listen. But, I was still focused on this first part. I knew that he was going to tear us a new one tonight and I was not looking forward to it.

"What's on your shirt?" he asked.

Shit.

"We got in a fight," I admitted. There was no use dancing around anything. I knew we really couldn't get in any more trouble than we were already in.

"Damnit, Dominic! Why do you keep fighting? What do you think these fights are accomplishing?" he asked, his nostrils flaring with anger.  
"This was different, Dad, I swear," I protested.

"It's always different to you! Boy, it's never different," he said.

"This guy tried to beat up Letty," I explained.

"Dominic, you're getting over your head. You're going to drowned, son," he said, speaking slightly more calmly.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I realized I was over my head. But, I didn't know exactly which area of my life he was referring to.

"It's one thing after another. All these stunts you pull, things pile up. It's not headed anywhere good," he said.

"I couldn't just let someone do that, though, Dad," I said.

"I'm not mad about you protecting Letty. I'm mad because you handled it like a child. And, you aren't a child anymore, Dominic. You're not thinking. If you want to take on adult responsibilities you best start acting like an adult. If you keep pulling shit like this things are going to get pretty ugly around here," he said.

"Dad," I pleaded.

"No, you're going to straighten up, both of you, if I have to yoke you to something, do you understand? I'm tired of this. I'm so disappointed in you guys," he said.

Disappointed. He was disappointed. That was by far the worst thing he could say. I never wanted to disappoint my Dad. I wanted him to be proud of me. That was pretty much shot tonight, though. He tanned our hides pretty good that night. And we deserved it. He didn't tell Vince's parents. He knew better than that. He knew that the punishment that he gave Vince was much fairer than any punishment he would receive from his step dad. But, he wasn't going to just let Vince walk away. I had to hold back my tears. I didn't want to cry. It hurt, and I was hurt that I disappointed him. I had just figured that taking the car would be something fun we would go out and do and Dad would never know. That was what I was hoping for anyway.

Afterwards, Dad drove me back to the house. I found out that Dad had come back by the garage, apparently not long after we had left, to see if Vince and Letty wanted to come by for dinner. He noticed that the Honda wasn't there and decided to wait. He had a good hour to get nice and steamed before we pulled back up.

When I went in the house, Mia was sitting on the couch watching television and doing homework. She looked confused by the whole situation. She followed me upstairs and asked what happened. I was still trying to fight back my tears. I didn't answer her. I closed my bedroom door and crashed on my bed. Dad had banned me from working at the garage for an unspecified amount of time. He also grounded me. I guessed that I wasn't going to make that double date with Vince this weekend.

I was mad. I wasn't mad that I got in trouble. It was a dumb move. I knew that my Dad was a fair guy and let me get away with a lot of stuff, probably more than I should have. I was mad that we got caught. I was mad that we had done it to begin with. But, I was glad that we had found Diego. I knew that, regardless of what had happened to me tonight, Letty would not have any more problems with him. In the end, I guess it was all worth it.

I ended up falling asleep. I think I had been emotionally drained. I woke up in the middle of the night. Letty was sleeping on the floor by the bed. She looked happy. She must have been having a good dream. I tried to fall back to sleep but I couldn't. I kept wondering why she told Vince where the kid was.

I jumped out of bed, careful to not land on her. I sat down on the floor beside where she was sleeping and shook her arm.

"Letty, wake up," I said softly.

She opened her eyes and looked up.

"You got in trouble, didn't you?" she asked sleepily.

"Yeah," I said. "How did you know?"

"You look sad. I told you not to," she remarked.

"It's not like I wanted to," I said. She sat up beside me.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"We took one of the cars from the garage and drove to find Diego. That was what Dad got so mad about," I told her.

"That makes sense. That was pretty dumb," she said smiling.

"I know, I know. Trust me," I said. I didn't need anyone else to tell me this.

"Did you find him?" she asked.

"Yeah. I don't think you'll have any more problems with him," I said.

And then, much to my surprise, she hugged me. She had never hugged me before. Her arms were small but her hug was tight. She pulled me really close and put her head on my shoulder. I was taken back by this. It took me a minute to respond. But, I returned the hug and placed my arms around her. I am not sure how long we hugged but I didn't want to break it. It felt nice to get a hug. It felt nice to hug Letty. She could be really sweet when she wanted to. At that moment, I realized that I had done the right thing- not in taking the car, but in making sure that she would be safe at school. I felt no regrets. Finally, she let go and sat back.

"Thanks. I didn't think I'd ever have anyone else that would do anything like that for me," she admitted. I knew who and what she was talking about. She thought after her brother died that she was going to be on her own forever.

"I may not be your brother, but I've always got your back," I told her. She smiled.

"So, let me ask you something," I said.

She rolled her eyes, "alright."

"How did you know where Diego was? And, why did you tell Vince?" I asked.

"We've got these huge projects due in Spanish tomorrow. They are partners. I knew he'd be over there working. We had to talk about it in class. And, why did I tell Vince? Well, I wasn't going to. I didn't want you to get in trouble. But, I knew that you were going to do it eventually. I figured if I couldn't change your mind I may as well make it easy for you," she explained.

I laughed. "How did you know I was going to?" I asked.

"Oh come on, that was pretty clear. That is who you are. You and Vince, you like to fight. I'm not going to try to change who you are. Besides, I don't think I'm one to judge anyone on the way that they deal with their problems. And, I thought it was kind of sweet," she said somewhat bashfully.

"Yeah, I'm kind of a knight-white-horse kind of guy," I said smiling at her blushing.

"Dominic, you couldn't be further from that. But, you do help me fight my dragons. And, you can be sweet when you want to. But, don't worry. I won't tell anyone," she said, crossing two fingers like it was a secret.

"So, what are you doing here? Is your aunt back?" I asked.

"No. I just…got lonely," she admitted.

"Oh, well it's cool," I said looking at her. She looked really sad. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said in a very humdrum manner.

I let out an irritated laugh. "Letty, you're killing me with that. Come on, what's wrong?"

"Today's my birthday," she said quietly.

"That's awesome. Happy birthday. You're thirteen, a teenager," I said excitedly. But, then I realized why she was upset. She didn't have anyone to celebrate with her. She didn't have anyone to wish her happy birthday. She didn't have anyone to make her a birthday cake. Well, she did now.

"Yeah, whoopie," she said unenthused.

"Hey, thirteen is going to be a great year. Just wait and see. It will kick twelve's ass!" I said, trying to reassure her that things were going to get better.

She just gave me a skeptical smile and said, "thanks Dominic."

"Anytime," I said jumping back up in my bed. She laid back down and was asleep within minutes.

Today was her birthday. Well, I definitely knew that I wouldn't fall back to sleep now. We were going to have to do something really special for Letty. Mia loved birthdays and decorating and baking and all that stuff. She would be really excited. I stayed up for a little bit longer trying to figure out what you were supposed to give a thirteen-year-old girl. I had no clue. Especially a thirteen-year-old girl like Letty. Boxing gloves? A gun? Those both seemed to fit her personality but be pretty bad ideas. I started thinking about what I would get Vince- beer. That didn't seem like a good idea for her either. What would really mean something to her?

I woke up to my Dad yelling, "Dominic, you better get up. Don't think you're not going to school today."

I looked down on the floor. Letty was gone. I don't know how she always managed to leave before the house woke up. But, she did. I rubbed my eyes. I needed to tell Dad and Mia the big news. I rolled out of bed and jumped into the shower. I pulled on a clean shirt and pants. I walked downstairs to the kitchen. Mia was cooking breakfast and Dad was reading the paper. When they both sat down I decided to tell them.

"So, today is Letty's birthday. And, since she doesn't really have anyone to celebrate with I was thinking maybe we could give her a little party or something," I said, trying to act casual.

"Oh that'll be fun. Can we Dad? I can bake a cake after school today. And, I still have those decorations left over from Dominic's birthday," Mia said, getting very excited.

"Sure, I think that would be a nice thing to do," Dad said to Mia.

"Great, let me go see if I can find them," she said, jumping up from the table.

Dad just looked at me. "What?" I asked.

"We can do this. But, you're still in trouble," he said.

"I know," I said defensively. "But, that doesn't mean that Letty should spend her birthday alone. I promise not to have fun, okay?" I said. He just shot me a look that told me to watch my attitude. "Sorry."

"Dominic," he started, putting down the paper and looking over at me. "My biggest concern is that you don't ever think about the consequences of your actions. You don't think about the people that you could hurt when you do things like you did last night."

I just looked down at my plate. I didn't feel like hearing another lecture.

"But, I think that what you have been trying to do for Letty is good. Maybe there is hope for you yet," he finished.

"Maybe," I said. "I wasn't trying to," I started but he stopped me.

"I know. I don't want to get into it. I don't want to hear any excuses. You take your punishment like a man. Everything is going to be okay. I love you and I just want you to learn to be responsible," he said.

"I know," I responded.

"So, what are you going to get Letty for her birthday?" he asked. I was embarrassed by this question. How did he know that I was thinking about getting her something? I hadn't really planned on telling anyone that I was going to get her a present.

I just shrugged.

"You could clean all the trash out of the guest room so she could stop sleeping on your floor and have a real bed," he said nonchalantly, picking the paper back up.

My jaw dropped. He knew. All this time, he knew. How did he know? I was dumbfounded.

"What? You think I didn't know?" he asked, smiling. He knew how surprised I was.

"Um," was all I could say.

"You may be good, son, but you're not that good. I used to be the king of sneaking girls in and out of my parents house," he said.

"No, it's not like that," I said. I knew what he was talking about and I certainly didn't want him to think that Letty and I were, well, like that.

"I know. That's why I didn't say anything," he said. "I've seen the things that go on at her house. I don't blame her for leaving. But, it might mean something to her if she had a place to go and didn't have to sneak around."

That was a really good idea.

"Besides, you'll have plenty of time this afternoon since you aren't coming to the garage," he added.

TBC

---

AJ


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has been reviewing. You guys are really awesome. I appreciate you taking your time to give me that feedback. It's real motivation to keep it all going. Also, thanks to all the readers. It's really cool to know that people are reading my stuff. I appreciate you guys!

AJ

I did not focus much in school that day. I thought about fixing up the room for Letty. She ended up making to it school, which surprised me a little. But, when I saw her on my way to shop class, Diego was not there. I couldn't help but smile. The rest of the day was filled with me watching the seconds tick away on the clock. It took forever. Finally, the bell rang. I made my way out to the bus. I was stopped by Vince who was talking to the girl that he had wanted me to double date with. I tried to ignore her.

"So, didn't see that Diego guy here today," he smirked.

"Hi Dominic," the girl said.

"Hey," I replied curtly. She turned her back and started talking to one of her friends.

I looked at Vince and said, "Nope, me either." I was distracted. I was scanning the crowd of students that was forming waiting to get on the buses for Letty.

"Who you looking for?" he asked.

"Letty, it's her birthday. You want to come by the house tonight? I think we're going to have a party for her," I asked him.

"Sure. Guess we won't be in the garage this afternoon," he said disappointed.

"No, not for a while. That's the last time I listen to one of your ideas," I said.

"Yeah, I guess it wasn't the best idea. But, it was sure as hell fun," Vince smiled.

"It was fun," I agreed.

Letty came walking up from behind. I noticed her out of the corner of my eye.

"Happy Birthday!" I yelled turning around really quickly. I saw her jump.

"Jesus!" she yelled. But then she said, much more calmly, "thanks".

"So, Dominic, Vince said that you wouldn't be over to come out this weekend. That's too bad," that same girl from earlier, whose name was escaping me, said. I hadn't even realized that she turned back around.

"Um, yeah, not going to be able to make it," I told her, giving no further explanation.

"Well, maybe another time," she replied.

"Yeah, maybe," I said. "So I'm banned from the garage, as you know," I started to say to Letty.

"Yeah, because you make such awesome decisions," she interrupted.  
"Hey, look at this guy over here. It was his genius plan," I said, pointing to Vince. He just shrugged.

"And you went along with it. You two were made for each other," she said, patting me on the back.

"Yeah, thanks," I replied. "Anyway, I was going to see if you wanted to come eat at the house tonight."

"Alright. That's cool. I'm still going to go to the garage though. You're Dad didn't ban me," she reminded me.

"That's cool. That will help Dad to notice how much he misses Vince and I," I joked.

"We'll see," she said, skipping in line in front of me and getting on the bus. Vince and I followed and took the seat directly beside her.

We all got out at the same place. After telling Vince and Letty that I would see them tonight. I made my way to the house. I walked up the stairs and into the extra room. I turned on the lights and looked around. There really was a lot of crap in the room. It was full of boxes, old clothes, holiday decorations, books, and all around random things. I had no clue what to do with all this stuff.

I heard the door close and footsteps coming up the stairs. I turned around and saw Mia examining the mess with me.

"Dad said you were going to clean out the room. What are you going to do with all this stuff?" she asked.

"I don't know. Throw it away?" I suggested.

"You can't just throw it all away. You have to go through it and sort it," she said in her very meticulous manner. That didn't really sound like what I wanted to do. That sounded like it would take a really long time.

"Yeah, I think I'll probably just throw it all away. So if you see anything you want you better grab it now," I said, taking an armful of stuff and putting it in one of the boxes.

"Dominic!" she yelled.

"What?" I said turning around and looking at her.

"You can't do that," she demanded.

"Okay, Mia, I'll go through all of it and only throw away the crap. But, if you aren't going to help, leave," I told her.

She gave me a suspicious look and then left the room.

Go through it. I looked at the stuff I'd just thrown in the box. It didn't look like anything important. We never went in the room. How could there be anything in here that we needed? I looked into the box that I had just made. It was full of Christmas decorations, most of which were broken and as old as I was. I figured that stuff was fine to toss out.

I made piles of old clothes and books. I separated them into boxes and started stacking the boxes in the hallway. I got some trash bags and threw stuff away so that the floor was finally visible. I set up some of the furniture that had fallen over to discover a bookcase. I decided to save the box I was going to use for the books. Instead I put all the old books on the bookcase. I had never even heard of most of the books. I assumed they probably belonged to my Mom. I wasn't much of a reader so I quickly skipped to a new task. I arranged the furniture in, what I believed to be, a pretty good-looking bedroom setup. After, what seemed like a really long time, I packed the last box up.

I carried all the boxes to the end of the street. I could smell the cake and lasagna that Mia was cooking. It smelled awesome. I got some sheets and one of my Mom's old quilts and put it on the bed. I found some pillows. I looked around. It looked like a regular bedroom. And then I thought, the days of Letty sneaking in my window were over. I was somewhat sad that I would no longer wake up to Letty sleeping on my floor. It was comforting to hear her sleeping, her deep breathing, with her face so content but I couldn't really pinpoint why. If nothing else, it made me feel important. But, though I couldn't put my finger on it, I knew there was another reason. I wondered if that meant that our talks would stop. But, I figured that Dad was right and this would be better for her. And, in the long run, that was what mattered, right?

I hopped in the shower and changed clothes. I went down to the kitchen. Mia was putting the finishing touches on the cake.

"So, Dad said that the room was for Letty?" Mia asked curiously.

"Yeah," I said, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a drink.

"Um, okay. Why?" she asked.

"Just so she'll have somewhere to stay when she doesn't want to be at her house," I replied.

"What's wrong with her house?" she asked curiously.

"None of your business," I said stoutly.

"If she's going to be staying in my house it is my business," Mia remarked.

"No not really. And don't ask her about it, okay?" I said. I didn't want Mia to try and open that can of worms with Letty. I knew that Letty wouldn't tell her and it would just make Mia mad. Plus, I enjoyed being the only one that Letty confided in. It gave us a secret but unique type of relationship that I didn't want to share with anyone else.

"Urgh, whatever. You are so infuriating sometimes," she said exasperated.

"That's what makes me so loveable," I said. She rolled her eyes. "The cake looks good."

"Thanks," she said. "I guess it will be nice to have another girl around."

"Yeah, I don't know if Letty's really the kind of girl that you're hoping for. But, good luck with that," I said turning and leaving the kitchen.

"Oh, people can change. Just look at you. You used to be nice," she mocked.

"Ha ha, that's funny," I called in from the next room.

I put the finishing touches on the room as Mia put the finishing touches on the cake. Vince strolled in and it took everything that Mia and I had just to keep him out of the cake. Mia and I had worked very hard to make the dinning room look nice. Mia had even put Vince in charge of blowing up some balloons that she found in the basement. I have no idea how she convinced him to do it, but she did. At quarter past five Dad and Letty made it back from the garage, which was good timing because Vince probably would have passed out if he had to blow up any more balloons.

We all sat down to eat. Dad talked about his day and asked all of us about ours.

"How was life in the 9th grade Dominic? Vincent?" he asked.

"Boring," I replied.

"Yeah, I'll go with that," Vince agreed.

"Letty how was school today?" he asked.

"Got an A on my Spanish project," she said, after thinking for a minute.

"Really?" I asked, shocked. I assumed after seeing her until the garage closed and then having her come up to my room that morning that she wouldn't have done it. I was really impressed with her. Of course, as soon as I made the remark, I realized how it sounded and wished I could have taken it back. That's the thing about words. After they come out, you can't get them back. I was pretty skilled at putting my foot in my mouth.

"Gee, Dominic, don't act so surprised. But, yeah, I did. It really wasn't a big deal," she said.

"You work with Diego?" Vince joked.

"No, he didn't make it in today," she smiled.

Dad just scowled at Vince and I. Then changed the subject by asking, "Mia how was school?"

"It was great. My class just started reading a new book today that I'm really excited about. But, Ms. Abernathy is going to be out sick tomorrow so that just means that we won't get anything done," she complained. Unlike Mia, I always enjoyed substitutes. I just rolled my eyes and looked at Vince. We had many exciting substitute stories.

After the small talk ended, we focused on the food.

"It's good," Letty remarked about the lasagna.

"Mia made it," Dad said smiling and patting Mia on the back.

"Good job," Letty said to Mia. I didn't know, but I was pretty sure that this was the first dialogue that Letty and Mia had shared.

"Thanks, it was no big deal," Mia said humbly. "So Letty, do you have anything else planned for tonight?"

"Nope," she replied, looking down at her plate.

"Why don't you stay? We can watch a movie or something," Mia offered. Mia, Vince, and I all loved watching movies.

"Okay, sure," Letty said. I could tell that she was excited by this invitation by the small smirk she was trying to hide. But, she tried to act casual.

Vince wasn't paying attention to the conversation. He was too busy consuming copious amounts of food.

"Do you want to do that Dominic?" Mia asked. I knew that it didn't really matter what I said because she would get Letty to do it regardless. I was glad, though, that this 'friendship' effort between Mia and Letty seemed to be successful, so far. It would have been a pain in the butt if either of them decided that they hated the other.

"Yeah, that's cool," I replied. "Vince, you down?" He didn't respond. He just kept on eating.

"Yo, Vince!" I said, louder.

"Huh?" he said, looking up from where he was shoving lasagna in his mouth.

"Want to watch a movie?" I asked.

"That's fine. As long as it's not Princess Bride," he said matter-of-factly.

"Vince! That's a great movie!" Mia exclaimed.  
"Well, I'm not watching it again," Vince said, continuing to eat.

"Then maybe you can't come," she said.

"Or maybe we'll just watch something else," I intervened. Vince always picked on Mia. I thought it was funny but sometimes it got a little ridiculous. I didn't know exactly why they always fought. Sometimes I thought he might be flirting with Mia. But, she was way too young, and my sister, so I knew that couldn't be the case. Regardless, she was my sister, he was my best friend, their fights created an immense conflict of interest. There was really no safe side to take. So, it was best to nip the problem in the bud early on.

"Dom, go get the cake," Dad whispered.

I went into the kitchen. I saw the cake that Mia had prepared. She had put forth a lot of effort. It was decorated very nicely and she had even written 'Happy Birthday Letty' in frosting on top. After I put the thirteen candles that were sitting on the counter in the top, I picked it up and carried it to the table. Letty's face lit up when I brought the cake in.

My Dad, Mia, Vince, and I all started singing. Letty blushed. We ate the cake. With Vince's assistance, it did not take long to finish a great deal of the cake.

"Alright, guys, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. Just leave the dishes, I'll get to them tomorrow. You all deserve a break. But, you are welcome to stay up. Happy birthday Letty," Dad said, giving Letty a small hug and excusing himself.

With little delay, the four of us stacked our dishes in the sink and made our way into the den. Mia put on a video, one other than the Princess Bride. She comfortably sat in the big armchair. Vince took the other one. This left the couch for Letty and I. I was fine with that. I was really glad that Letty had spent her birthday with us. I made myself a place on one end of the long couch. Letty sat down, but not on the other end. Instead, she sat down right beside me.

This was very odd and slightly uncomfortable. The reason that couches were so long, I supposed, was so that you didn't have to sit that close to people. But, it was her birthday. I didn't want to criticize her. So, I endured it. It wasn't as painful as I would have thought. I noticed, out of nowhere, that her skin was really smooth and soft. I could feel the warmth coming from her body. It was unusual. It wasn't hot, but warm, comforting. I thought about the fact she sat so closely to me for far too long and missed the better half of the movie.

When it ended, Vince said that he had to go home. Mia put in another movie. She and Letty talked about the movie and the actors in the movie for about thirty minutes.

"Hey, guys, why don't you be quiet. It's a movie. You're not supposed to talk. Mia, pretend you're in the library," I said.

Mia rolled her eyes at me, "how would you know how you are supposed to act in a library?"

"Sorry, Dominic. Do you want to be included in the conversation?" Letty asked. Was she serious? Did I? Or did I really just want them to be quiet? Did I feel like Mia was moving in on _my_ friend? Surely not. This question did not deserve a response.

After about an hour in, though, Mia fell asleep. When the movie ended, I looked over. Letty was asleep also. I shook her arm gently.

"Letty, wake up," I said to her softly, not wanting to wake up Mia.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"What?" she asked.

"Come here. I've got something to show you," I said. I was glad Mia was asleep and Vince was gone. This would make it much easier and less awkward.

"Okay," she said, pulling herself up from the couch. She was tired, it was obvious.

I was really excited. I couldn't wait to show her the room. I really hoped that she liked it. But, then I got scared. What if she thought I told my Dad? The last thing I ever wanted to do was to make Letty think that I had violated her trust.

We made our way up the stairs and down the hallway. I opened the door to the room and turned the light on. I smiled in anticipation. I didn't say anything, but waited for her response.

"It's a room," she said lackadaisically.

"Yeah. But, it's your room," I said, carefully picking my words.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean what I said. It's yours. You can sleep here," I stated.

I waited, and got nothing from her. I decided to explain a little further, "I was totally down with you sleeping on the floor. But, we had this extra room and I thought you would be more comfortable. I mean, the floor sucks. I slept on it once and that was enough. I thought you might like to have somewhere that was just yours."

I felt like I was rambling. I guess I should have given my Dad credit for the suggestion but I didn't. I wanted her to think that it was all me, all my idea. I felt selfish by taking all the credit. But, something inside me really wanted to provide for her and take care of her. I feared that if I had told her that it was my Dad's idea than she might have not seen it the same way.

She still didn't say anything. But, she wrapped her arms around me. Despite how tired she was, it did not seem to affect her grip. She hugged me so tight. She wrapped her arms around my neck and practically pulled herself off the ground. I assumed that this meant she was excited, or happy, or something good.

"So, you like it?" I asked.

"Dominic! This is the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you so much! This is awesome," she said, breathlessly. Her eyes were so wide at this point. It did not seem like she was tired any longer. Her words sounded happy. There was no despair in her voice at all, for once. "But, what does this mean? I mean I don't live here. I can stay here though, right?"

"Yeah, of course. Anytime you want. And, if you still want to climb through the window that is okay," I said, just as a suggestion. I didn't know what would make her feel the most comfortable but I wanted to offer whatever that was. And, I guess, I still wanted to hold on to what we had.

TBC

---

AJ


	13. Chapter 13

Things got a lot better for Letty after that. She ended up spending the vast majority of her time at my house, and at the garage. She would go for weeks without ever going home. It was nice having her around. It wasn't at all like having another sister. Letty never felt like a sister. It was like having a friend down the hall. She gave me a hard time the same way Vince did. But, it was different. I thought about her a lot to try and figure out what it was that was different. Regardless of how much of my thoughts she consumed, I still could not get a handle on things. By the time summer rolled around, she had gotten just as good at working on cars as Vince. It was impressive, actually. She really had a knack for it.

Our talks did not stop completely. But, they were less frequent. This was partly due to the fact that her day-to-day life was much easier. Things would still happen, though, and I would wake up to her sleeping on my floor. When things went wrong, that was the first place she headed. I secretly loved this fact.

I tried to set my main focus on being a teenager. The year Vince and I were fifteen going on sixteen was a big year for both of us. Mainly, it was a big because we were in high school, about to start driving, and our relationships with the opposite sex were starting to enter a whole new realm of possibility.

"So, you coming to Lowry's party tonight?" Vince asked me after school one day. We were standing in the parking lot. School had just started- high school. Instead of taking the bus, I was riding with an older guy, Zack, I knew that frequently brought his car by the garage. He was pretty big into racing. He was the one that introduced me to the street scene in LA because when he would go he frequently took Vince and I along for the ride.

"Hell yeah, ain't shit else to do," I remarked.

"Heard that. Think Zack will get us beer?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, probably," I answered as Zack walked up.

"Sup guys," he said, walking up to join the group.

"Hangin' out," Vince said.

Just then Rachel, a very attractive girl in my grade, walked by. I had been eyeing her since school started, so about a week. A very entertaining aspect of high school was that there were more girls. Girls that had not gone to junior high school with me miraculously appeared out of nowhere. I appreciated the increase in population.

"Hey Dominic," she said, continuing to pass.

"Hey Rachel," I smiled, watching her as she made her way by.

Zack started laughing. "Gotta watch out for those freshman girls, man," he warned.

"Oh, I'm watching," I joked.

"Yeah, I see that. But, the key is to pretend like you don't care. When they approach you, that's when you can show a little bit of interest," he explained. "Aloof, that's what you want to be, Dom. Cool and distant."

This was probably the most interesting thing I'd heard all day. Zack got a lot of girls, most of which he picked up after races. Being young and with a limited income, Zack didn't race much. But, it was amazing the way the girls acted towards the drivers at the races. They literally did nothing and the girls flocked. It was quite interesting. And, for some reason, Zack had made Vince and I his pupils. But, I was much more willing to learn from Zack than from any of the idiots that taught at the high school.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said.

"Alright, it's hot as hell. You ready to roll?" he asked, pulling his keys from his pocket. Zack had a fast car but what made it more impressive than anyone else's was the appearance. He was really into decals and unique paint jobs. It was as if his car was his art project. He didn't know too much about fixing things up under the hood, but he knew a lot about fixing up the exterior. Any opportunity that Zack was given, he was drawing. This included the time he spent in class, after class, sitting around the garage waiting for his car, anytime. He had great ideas about what he wanted cars to look like. And, he was really talented. He carried around colored pencils the way some guys carried around a Glock. They were always on him and he would pull them out at any opportunity. He was drawing on anything that had free space.

"Yeah," I said. "Yo, Vince. I'll catch up with you later man."

"That's cool," Vince said. At this time, Vince was riding to school with this really hilarious guy named Troy Yates. Yates didn't know jack about cars, and had just recently turned sixteen. He was always life of the party, though. He was in a struggling band that was saving up money to make their first demo record so they could hit it big in the music industry. Yates dreamed big. He was the most full-throttle person I'd ever met. If he was going to do something, he was going to do it all the way. He never just drank, he got plastered. He didn't just skip school, he'd go down to Las Vegas and sneak into a strip club. He and Vince got along really well. I could see Yates's impulsivity starting to rub off on Vince.

Zack and I got into the car and he drove out of the school parking lot.

"So, what are you guys getting into tonight?" Zack asked.

"Probably headed to Lowry's party," I replied.

"Yeah, that's cool," he said.

"What are you doing? You working tonight?" I asked.

"Nope, off all weekend. I don't know, probably go by Kershaun's, too. I don't have the money to race tonight," he said as he shifted gears. Kershaun Lowry was one of Zack's good friends, and an emerging new talent in the street racing game. Kershaun had a lot of money poured into his car, no one really knew where he got it from. But, he was able to make quite the impression on the streets when he let loose.

"Yeah, bummer about last week. You weren't too far off," I told him. Zack had lost. He hadn't lost by much, but he lost. He usually won. He was really developing a name for himself in the street racing world, especially for having just started racing a little over a year ago and having to spend all the money he would win in a race to make improvements to his own car.

"What can I say? Losing is losing. It doesn't matter if you lose by an inch or a mile," he told me, looking over.

"Yeah, man, I hear ya," I replied. At the same time, winning was winning. And when I started racing, I planned on just winning. "You mind picking Vince and I up some beer on the way home?"

"No problem," he said, turning into a gas station. Apparently Zack's younger cousin was a computer whiz. He was around Mia's age, from what I gathered, but unlike Mia used his intelligence for only malevolence. He made Zack a fake id that was yet to be rejected anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area. Zack had been trying to convert his cousin over from false identification cards to cars. He wanted him to develop a system where Zack could place his images for different cars on the computer and tweak them electronically.

"Thanks dude," I said, handing him some money as he got out of the car.

He went in the store and came walking out with a case of Corona and a case of Bud Light. He handed me the change for my beer and put his own case in the back.

"You and your American beer," I joked.

"Watch your mouth. America's the home of the '62 Plymouth Sport Fury- solid muscle," he retorted completely pulling this comparison out of left field. This was Zack's dream car.  
"Touché," I replied. I had to hand it to him for his taste: 413 cubic inch V-8, 13.5 compression, 415 horsepower, 470 foot pounds of torque. This was the first stock car to make the quarter mile in less than twelve seconds. I could understand why he wanted one. But, American beer was a different story.

Hey pulled up to the house. The garage was closed this weekend because my dad was starting to race in the stock car circuit. This was his second race. So, far, he had done very well. This weekend he was in Virginia.

"Alright, man, thanks for the lift," I said. I realized that I had left my book bag and any schoolbooks at school. It was no big deal. Instead, it gave me a reason not to do any homework over the weekend. So, I grabbed the only really important thing, the case of beer.

"Sure thing. Hit me up if you guys need a ride tonight," he said.

"Cool," I said, closing the door. I walked up into the house. Mia was sitting on the couch doing her homework.

"Hey Dominic," she said as I closed the door behind me.

"Hey Mia," I said, walking into the kitchen. I put the beer in the refrigerator and then went and joined her on the couch. "So, Mi, what are you getting into tonight?"

"Probably going to go out and get wasted and pick up some guys," she joked.

"That's my girl," I joked. I would never have let her do this.

"You're such a good influence," she remarked.

"You know I'm kidding," I told her.

"I know. No, actually, I think I'm going to hang out with Letty," she said. I was stunned.

"Really?" I asked. This sounded just as farfetched as the first statement. She and Letty got along just fine, but they really didn't hang out. Letty was still with Vince and I most of the time, and always at the garage. Granted, she did not come with us to parties, she was thirteen. But, she wasn't extremely buddy-buddy with Mia.

"Yeah, why do you look so surprised?" she asked, putting her pencil down.

"Just didn't know you guys hung out that much," I said.

"Well, we're going to tonight," she replied.

"Alright," I said, dropping the subject. Letty was hanging out with my little sister. I guess that made sense. They were only a grade apart in school. Mia was in junior high with Letty now. I wondered if Mia was going to turn her prissy. I really hoped not. That would have been a bummer. That was a huge part of Letty's appeal, in my opinion.

I went over to the fridge and got a beer. I needed a drink after this statement. I felt off center.

The front door opened and someone walked in. I glanced around the wall and saw Vince approaching.

"Long time no see, brother," I yelled in.

"You drinkin' already?" he asked, walking in the kitchen.

"Just got some bad news," I said, opening the fridge up and grabbing a beer for him.

"What's up?" he asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Letty and Mia are hanging out tonight," I told him somberly.

Vince just started laughing, "That's awesome."

I looked at him totally baffled. I wasn't really upset but 'awesome' was definitely not the word I would have used to describe the situation. I might say 'strange'.

"What? It's funny," he stated.

"Um, yeah, I guess," I said, not thinking it was funny, but humoring him.

"They're just totally opposite," he remarked.

I just shrugged, "Whatever. Hey, come help me with the basement."

Since Dad was closing up shop when he went to the races, I had taken on clearing out the basement. There were two rooms and a bathroom in the basement that we never used. I felt like it could potentially be a really good hangout spot. Of course, after Letty took the extra bedroom, we started pilling all of our crap in the basement. It had turned into quite a chore to clear it all out.

"I don't want to do work," Vince complained as soon as we got down there.

"Just put some shit in boxes," I said, throwing him an empty box that contained car parts once upon a time.

We cleared a fairly good sized area. Or, rather, I cleared a rather good sized area and Vince watched. He would occasionally and begrudgingly put an item in the box. By the time we stopped, he had filled up the one box I had thrown him.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's only like six," I replied. I had no idea, it was a complete guess.

We went back upstairs and Letty and Mia were sitting on the couch. They were talking about school. That surprised me a bit, for Letty. Granted, she wasn't really talking about her classes, more the people in them. But, she never really talked about school with me.

"Hey ladies," Vince said, walking in to join them. I grabbed another beer out of the fridge before making my way into the den.

"Hey V," Letty said, not really acknowledging either of us.

"Nah, Mi, we're not watching this," I said, looking at the television showing reruns of _Dallas_.

"I was in here first," she said, holding tight to the remote control.

"Come on, Vince, let's go down to Hector's," I said, chugging my beer. I didn't want to carry it down the street.

Hector was a year younger, in the ninth grade. His family had recently moved a few blocks down the road. He was really interested in cars. Instead of fixing them, his father sold used cars. But Hector was just as knowledgeable about what went on under the hood of a car as he was about how much a car should sell for. Plus, he had a lot of brothers and cousins that were always hanging around his house drinking and playing basketball so it was an entertaining place to escape to when need be.

"You want to come Letty?" I asked as Vince followed me towards the door. But, then he made a sidetrack to the kitchen.

"Nah, I'm good," she said. Rejected. Letty always came with us down to Hector's house. In fact, she and Hector got along really well. They found it extremely funny to talk about Vince and I in Spanish so we didn't know what they were saying.

"You'd rather watch Dallas?" I mocked, but in reality I was somewhat hurt that she was choosing to stay with Mia.

"No not really I just don't feel like going anywhere," she said.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, trying not to let on too much concern as Vince came back into the room.

"Yeah. It's just hot outside and I want to lay here," she said lackadaisically.

"Alright then, check ya later," I said walking out the door.

When we got outside, Vince showed me what he had gone back into the kitchen for. He had a couple of beers in his cargo shorts. I laughed. But, then became distracted. Why hadn't Letty wanted to come? Did I do something to piss her off? She didn't seem mad. Letty wasn't one to hide her anger. If she was mad, she would let you know it. I guess I should expect that she would get closer to Mia, what with them going to the same school. Still, it sort of made me sad. I didn't want Letty to make herself scarce. She was fun to have around. She was the only person that I found it virtually impossible to become angry with. All she had to do was smile or make some asinine comment and any anger I felt was quickly dissolved.

Vince and I hung out with Hector and a couple of his older cousins for a few hours. They were drinking so we were able to freely partake of some alcohol. Of course, they were more of the Dos Equis kind of guys. This was not really my style. But, at the time, I wasn't that picky.

Around nine o'clock Vince and I went back to the house. Mia and Letty were still watching television. Vince decided to call Yates to see about going to the party. He was always a fun guy to go with, not such a reliable person to go home with. But, getting there was the main issue. Yates came by the house to pick us up. We had a beer with him and then loaded up in the car. By the time we made it to the party, it was really starting to pick up. I got out of the car and grabbed the beer. I saw Rachel. This was going to be a fun night.

I took Zack's advice and just sort of stood back with Vince and Yates. We drank a little bit more and I was really starting to feel it at this point. Of course, Yates had brought liquor and was not drinking so much as taking shots. He got Vince going, but I decided in order to be aloof, I needed to be conscious, so I abstained. We made small talk with random other individuals that we knew at the party.

"Zack attack, what's up man?" I asked, as Zack walked up to join the three of us.

"Chilling. Trying to hold it together," he said clenching his jaw.

"What's going on?" I asked him. He was usually a pretty easygoing guy so I figured he had to be pretty upset about something to be so tense.

"Fuckin' prick Lance Tran, don't know if you know him. His younger cousin Johnny's in your grade. He's talking shit at Wesley's earlier. Couldn't take it any longer and we got into it," he said shaking out his bloody knuckles.

"Damn, Zack. Did you win at least?" I questioned. At this point, I noticed that he looked a little scruffier than usual and a little cut up.

"Course," he smiled. "Family can't fight for shit, they just talk it."

"Well, have a beer. It makes everything better," I said, handing him a Corona.

"You and your Mexican beer," he laughed.

"Dom, Rachel's over there," Vince pointed.

"Yeah, I saw her," I said. I didn't want to approach her, though. I was doing my homework.

I stood around with the guys for a little bit longer, sipping on my beer, watching Yates and Vince take shots. Zack told the whole story about his fight. I kept an eye on Rachel. She was drinking something in a Solo cup and talking with her girlfriends. Vince walked away to go to the bathroom, leaving an opening in our group circle. I was mid conversation with Zack when I saw Rachel walk up.

Zack put his hand on drunken Yates's shoulder, pulling him away, and they walked off. But, that was not before Zack whispered, "cool and distant."

"Hey Dom," she said, somewhat intoxicated- always a good sign.

"Hey," I said, trying to walk the line between ignoring her but not totally pissing her off. This was not an easy line. I kept scanning the crowd as if I was looking for somebody but moved in a little bit closer to her.

"Are you having fun?" she asked, stepping into me.

"Yeah, you?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's a good party. They have this red drink in the kitchen. I think I'm enjoying it too much," she said touching my stomach.

"Impossible," I said, placing my hand on the small of her back.

"Do you know a lot of people here?" she asked, noticing that I was still looking around.

"Um, decent amount," I responded. This was kind of true. They were mainly Kershaun's friends and some other random people from the high school. Kershaun's group hung around the street races. Of course, thanks to Zack, most of the older people that I knew fit this criteria.

"Well, I don't really know a lot of people. But, I know you," she said, placing her other hand on my stomach.

"Well we should get to know each other better," I sad, moving my fingers up under the bottom of her shirt to stroke the small of her bare back.

She smiled and kissed me. Wow, that had been incredibly easy. In junior high, doing even the smallest things with girls always seemed like more of a challenge. It required a lot more talking and typically seeing each other in more than one social setting. So far, I liked high school.

TBC

---

AJ


	14. Chapter 14

A/N- Sorry it took so long guys. I just moved to a different state and instead of unpacking all my boxes I decided to go on vacation with some friends. It was a great avoidance tactic. I highly recommend it to any true procrastinator. But, now I'm back and I can't find anything but my computer so here it goes…

The evening of the party was somewhat of a blur. Rachel and I made out for a little while. I was not really into public displays of affection- in terms of hand holding and whispering, etc. But, making out and other precursors to hooking up, I was definitely alright with. Yates and Vince ended up coming up and distracting us about the time things were starting to get a little bit hotter. But, at least they interrupted with alcohol. Rachel and I took a couple of shots before the once full bottle was painfully close to being empty. Yates was pretty gone at that point so I told Vince to keep an eye on him and suggested that Rachel and I go find somewhere to take body shots. We made our way upstairs to an empty bedroom. I didn't know Kershaun well enough to be able to decipher whose room it was. But, frankly, I didn't care. We started in the obvious places, on the neck, bellybutton, so forth, and slowly moved up and down to more exciting areas. We soon finished up the last of the shots but didn't stop there. We ended up sleeping together, which proved to be an entertaining party detour.

Not long after we finished, someone knocked on the locked bedroom door informing me that the cops were spotted and everyone needed to leave. It was very good timing, actually, because it allowed for any post sex awkwardness or pillow talk to be eliminated. I quickly pulled on my boxers, pants, and shirt. I checked to make sure that Rachel was clothed before opening the door. I saw Vince in the hallway, also with a girl. However, it did not appear that he had made it up to the bedrooms fast enough. People were starting to dash out of the house. He was clearly extremely drunk. I grabbed his arm, which was connected to this young lady, and pulled him towards the stairs. I noticed that Rachel was also following us. I guessed that this was to be expected.

We got out of the house and I saw Zack heading with a quickness towards his vehicle as the flash of blue lights flooded the area.

"Yo, Zack, can we catch a ride?" I hollered to him. He turned around.

"Yeah, man, jump in," he said, unlocking the doors. There were four of us and I sure as hell wasn't sitting in the back. We all got in, Vince and his girl in the back, followed by Rachel, and I got in the front.

"Kelly, not taking your car home tonight?" Zack asked the girl that Vince was with. He was obviously joking because this girl was clearly drunk.

She just slurred out, "No, Vince said I shouldn't drive." I agreed with Vince on this one, but I doubted his reasoning was really in her best interest.

"Alright, then, where can I take people?" Zack asked. I turned around in my seat and looked at Rachel.

"Where are you going?" I asked. I sure as hell knew that I wasn't taking her back to the house and figured she probably would need to get home eventually.

"I live up on Brevard," she said reaching out for my hand. What the hell? Did she really expect to do that? That was the main reason I was sitting in the front seat. Damn. I didn't want to be an ass but I didn't want to play the whole boyfriend role tonight.

Zack glanced over and couldn't hold in his laugh.

"Shut up, dick," I told him, giving her my hand. It was not only an extremely uncomfortable position, but extremely opposite of what I wanted to do. I liked Rachel and all, I guessed, but didn't want to hold her hand.

Just then, Zack slammed on breaks, for no apparent reason. But, it gave me an opportunity to bring my hand forward. I appreciated him for this move. Not long after this, we made our way to Rachel's house.

"You want to walk me to the door?" she asked me. No. I realized I may have made a mistake. Usually, in the past, hooking up or having sex with a girl did not involve riding home in the same car. This was new territory for me. I guess I had to pay for it. Karma's a bitch. I knew I couldn't say no. Guess this is what they refer to as rock and hard place.

As I slowly and resentfully got out of the car, I heard Zack and Vince laugh. I gave them the finger as I closed the car door behind me.

Rachel grabbed my hand as we walked towards her front door. I looked around for her father. I didn't see any signs of anyone. But, damn, she was really into this handholding thing. I sighed and thought about how it was almost over. I could see her door up ahead.

"Alright, well, this was fun," I told her, when we got to her stoop.

"Yeah, call me?" she asked. Call her? Doubtful.

"Definitely," I replied. She leaned in and I kissed her. Kissing was never something I was opposed to. I pulled away and made my way back to the car.

I got in and Zack was still laughing.

"Told you, man. Gotta watch out for those freshman girls," he smirked.

"Just drive," I said, annoyed with the whole situation. I hadn't realized what he meant till now. Clingy. I didn't look back.

"Where am I taking you guys?" Zack asked, looking back in his rearview mirror to an extremely drunk Vince and Kelly making out.

"Wherever," Kelly said.

I just sighed. "Fuck it, let's just go to my house," I said. I knew Vince couldn't take her to his house. And, if she was sixteen, she could probably stay out. He was going to owe me, big time. And I didn't care how, but he was going to get her out first thing in the morning. I didn't really want to expose Mia and Letty to all this.

We got to the house. The front porch lights were on but the other lights were out. Zack pulled up in the driveway and parked. We all got out, Kelly still gripping tight to Vince's arm. I was glad for him, but slightly annoyed at the same time. We made our way to the den. Letty and Mia, thankfully, weren't in there.

"Where can we sleep?" Vince mumbled.

"Basement. Grab the sleeping bags," I said. He sure as hell wasn't taking my bed. I was rooting for him, but wasn't willing to give up a nice place to pass out.

Vince went to the closet and grabbed a couple of pillows and sleeping back. Grinning as big as if he was about to get in a fight, he led Kelly downstairs. I pushed what they were doing out of my mind at that point.

"Shit, we're out of beer," I remarked.

"I got some Bud Lights," Zack said. "That is, if you think you can endure it."

He went out to the car and grabbed the rest of his beer. I turned on the television and we drank to Saturday Night Live.

"Damn, dude, you got schooled tonight," Zack said.

"What the hell?" I asked, not really knowing exactly what area this was in reference to. I figured, with being younger than Zack, there were many things a seventeen-year-old could call me out on.

"That chick is going to give you hell," he smiled.

"I don't want to think about it," I said, rubbing my head. I was trying to get all the unpleasantries, hence the handholding, out of my head. I wanted to focus on the positive aspects of the evening- sex.

"Was it worth it?" he asked, finishing off a beer.

"Guess we'll see how painful it is come Monday," I responded. It very well could have been. I appreciated that it had been so obvious that I'd hooked up at the party. I just hoped that I wasn't paying for it long afterwards.

"You'll be fine," Zack reassured. I gave a scoffed laugh. "Nah, Dom, don't worry. You'll be fine."

"Cheers," I said, raising a can of domestic beer to his.

"Want to come out to the races tomorrow?' he asked, clinking his beer to mine and taking a long swig.

"Sure. You gonna race?" I asked.

"Nah, like I said, ain't got no money. But Tran's racing. And, I'll make my way out to see him get his ass beat…again," Zack said. I didn't know Lance at all and I really didn't know Johnny that well. We had gone to different junior high schools. But, I respected Zack enough to trust his judge of character. I recognized the fact that he was taking me under his wing. I owed him enough to equally hate his competitors. That was what loyalty was all about, after all.

"I'm down," I replied.

Just then I saw Letty walking down the stairs. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. I figured she had been asleep.

"Hey," she said, coming into view. Her tan skin reflected well off her white tank top.

"Sup, Let," I said, trying to focus on the television. Zack was a lot older. I didn't want him to really know that I was so close to someone so young. But, I felt an immense conflict of interest that I wished I wasn't dealing with.

She didn't verbally respond, just shook her head. She made her way into the kitchen. I could feel Zack staring at me.

"What, you got them waiting around at home too?" he joked.

"Dude, she's thirteen," I said.

"No shit? Doesn't look thirteen. But, yeah, little young. Keep it in your pants," he said.

I just nodded. I didn't want to get into it.

Letty made her way out of the kitchen and back up the stairs. She didn't really say anything but before she had fully completed the staircase Zack said, "So, you at least fucked that chick, what was her name?"

Thanks, Zack, I thought. I didn't want Letty to think that I was such an ass. Fuck them and leave them. I didn't want Letty to write me off as just another self-centered male in her life. But, I couldn't not answer him either. It was evident that, at least for our crowd, a silence could be interpreted as a no. And, this was a conquest I wanted to admit to.

"Rachel Williams," I smiled and nodded my head. Maybe she wouldn't be able to translate the body language, I hoped.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. She was a hot freshman," Zack said, reaching out for a high five. I met his hand with mine. But, was pretty sure that she heard that. Oh well, I really couldn't do anything about it now.

Zack ended up crashing on the couch. We finished off the rest of his beers and he wasn't going to risk the bodywork on his car by getting in an accident. I could respect this. Around 3 o'clock in the morning I made it upstairs to my bed. I was drunk and ready to pas out. I accomplished this task extremely successfully.

The next morning I didn't feel nearly as hung over as I would have expected. I looked over at the clock. It was almost one. I stretched, yawned and decided that I should get up. I hoped that Vince had gotten that girl out.

I got out of bed and made my way downstairs. I saw Letty and Zack sitting around watching television. That was an interesting set up. I really hoped that Zack had not regaled Letty of all of our wonderful accomplishments from last night.

"What's up, man?" Zack called out as I made my way sleepily to the chair beside the couch. "How you feeling?"

"Tired but I think I'll survive," I replied.

"Good to hear. I'm glad we didn't get arrested last night," he mentioned casually.

"Yeah, that would have sucked," I replied, slightly taken back by his statement. I would have been pretty upset if I had woken up in jail this morning. Given as my Dad was out of town and would probably not rush back to bail me out of jail for pulling some idiotic teenage move, I was really glad I wasn't in jail. But, I didn't really think it had been that big of a danger. Maybe it had. I guess there had been a lot of cops.

"Yates got his drunk ass arrested," Zack informed me.

"Oh, damn, that's some shit," I replied. I wasn't extremely surprised. It was never good to hear that one of your boys had been picked up.

"From what Zack said, sounds like you had a big night," Letty smiled. Shit, thanks Zack.

"It was interesting," I said, trying not to show much enthusiasm. However, in actuality, it had been a pretty cool night. I was really happy to be hanging out with older guys and attending parties like that. It was definitely the path I wanted to follow. "Vince still here?"

"Um, someone came to pick up that girl about two hours ago. Vince left not long ago," Letty said.

Well, there went sparing Letty from having a pretty clear picture of how our night went. My morale was lowered by this. I didn't want her to see me like that. But then, I guess she was seeing me for what I had been, what I was becoming. Seeing myself through Letty's eyes help pull me back into reality. It was really a struggle. I wanted to be a guy that she could look up to and respect. But, at the same time, I wanted to be the kind of guy that Zack, Yates, Kershaun, and the whole street racing crew would respect. I didn't feel like these could probably be the same people. That was unfortunate because I feared the one I would choose would not be the one Letty would like. She was unbelievably important to me but what did it mean? I couldn't shape my life around the opinion of one thirteen-year-old girl could I? It seemed irrational.

Letty went into the kitchen to fix lunch.

"Dude, she's a trip. You should've brought her to the party last night," Zack said when she left the room.

"Nah, man, she's too young," I said. Why did he want me to bring her to the party? I was glad they got along but Zack was way too old to want to hang out with Letty. Maybe I was just feeling protective, maybe.

"How old is she?" he asked. Wow, he must have been pretty drunk last night.

"Thirteen so don't get any ideas," I said protectively.

Zack ended up hanging out for a while longer before heading home. We talked about the race that was going to take place that night and he told me that he'd call later about going. As soon as he left, I looked over at Letty. She looked up at me and when our eyes met she just smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, Dominic," she said.

"Oh, Letty," I copied.

"Heard about your night," she remarked.  
"Did you now," I said. I didn't really want to comment any further. I had suddenly lost all the pride that last night had instilled in my ego.

"You wouldn't even hold that girl's hand?" she asked surprised. Wow, Zack really had spilled the beans. I would have to remember to kill him later. I saw a look in her eye that resembled disappointment. Shit, this was something I had never wanted to do. I disappointed her. My heart sank down into my stomach. I was responsible for giving her that look. Damn. It definitely wasn't worth that. Nothing was worth that.

"That's not true. I did. I made sure she rode home with us and didn't get arrested. I walked her to her door and told her I'd call her. What exactly did Zack tell you?" I said, recanting all the things from the evening I had found most miserable to try to prove my case.

"Enough," she said, giving off no information. Typical.

"Alright, well never listen to just parts of a story," I said defensively. Was I lying? Not technically. All the things I had told her had actually occurred. Damn, I tried to shake it off. Why the hell did it matter? This was getting old. I needed something to clear my head, or make it so blurry that thoughts of Letty would be pushed out.

TBC

---

AJ


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own fast and furious. Also, I didn't not write _The Outsiders_ and I have nothing to do with the magazine "Popular Mechanics". I do own a Wrangler- I'll take credit for that one. Slow- maybe- but drives over rocks & through rivers.

**A/N: **This is sort of a filler chapter because I didn't want to just jump really far ahead. Sorry for the delay in updating. After being unemployed for so long- I forgot how employment can cut into your free time.

---

A couple of humdrum months had gone by. I had finally turned sixteen. It was probably the best day of my life. Vince was close to making the transition over to joining us in the driving world. I had only raced a handful of times and was working my ass off to pour money into my car. I wouldn't race unless I knew that I could win. Zack was a pretty good advisor in this area. He knew a lot of the drivers. And, I could pretty much look under their hoods and tell whether or not they could beat me.

No one had seen or heard from Yates since the party at Kershaun's house. But, Vince came to my house one day after school, as he usually did. He said he had the scoop. We went upstairs to my room and sat down. Vince explained what he had learned about Yates's situation.

"So he got sent to Central?" I said out of disbelief.

"Yep," Vince responded.

"Damn, that's some shit," I stated. I couldn't believe he was being sent to the Hall.

"I know, man," Vince replied. It was obvious that Vince really missed Yates. Vince wasn't really going to his house any longer and when he wasn't at my house or the garage, he was with Yates. He was even learning how to play the guitar from him. Of course, Vince only used this new found skill to try to impress girls.

"How do you know this," I asked. There were all kinds of rumors circulating about what had happened to him. In high school, it was nearly impossible to sort out the truth in a situation.

"Jack told me," Vince replied. Jack was Yates's stepbrother. I didn't know that Vince really knew Jack. I had never actually seen him, just heard about him. He was in his twenties.

"I ain't ever met Troy's parents but I assume he's got some. Why didn't they just release him to them?" I asked. As crowded as Juvenile Hall was these days in L.A. I just assumed they would release someone like Yates to his parents and save the space for gang members or something.

"This wasn't his first offense, Dom. Shit this wasn't his second offense. He's been on probation. He'd been court ordered to go to school. It was the only way he stayed his ass out of the Camp. And when they caught him they caught him with some shit," Vince admitted.

"What did he have on him?" I asked curiously.

"Like 2, 3 grams of yay," Vince speculated. However, his speculation seemed a little too accurate. I was skeptical. How did Vince know this? Maybe Jack had told him. Or, maybe Vince was doing it with Yates that night at the party. The only people that I knew that referred to cocaine in such slang terms actually used it. Thinking back, Vince and Yates had disappeared together for a little while and returned awfully chatty and happy.

"No shit?" I said, somewhat rhetorically.

"Yeah I know," Vince replied.

"So he was just walking around with it?" I said. That was just asking to get into trouble.

"You forget who we're talking about?" Vince asked.

"Good point," I said. But, Vince seemed weird about this whole situation. He had never been good at keeping things from me. And, finally, I had to call him out on it. "You were doing it with him at the party weren't you?" I asked him. I knew the answer, though.

"Not really," he said obscurely.

"How do you not really do coke?" I stated, annoyed. I could believe it but I was disappointed in him.

"Oh come on, man," Vince said, almost whining.

"Whatever, V, you ain't got to lie about it," I finally said. I didn't want to talk about it with him. I figured he had. And, a big reason that he had was most likely because he wanted Yates to think he was cool. It was the trap a lot of freshman guys got into. I had, with Zack, but just in a different way. I couldn't be hypocritical but this was just stupid of Vince.

Maybe Yates going to juvenile hall would be a good thing in the long run. I knew Vince too well to know that drugs were not something he needed to experiment with. As volatile as Vince could be, I didn't think any type of upper would be a great combination with his temper. He was crazy enough on his own.

But, at the same time, I knew why Vince wouldn't want to admit this to me. Drugs weren't really my scene. I wasn't naïve enough to not realize that coke and ecstasy were both pretty big around the crowd that hung out at the races. You get enough young adults that feed off the rush, feeling good, and have no respect for the law and it's bound to happen. But, it was never a big attraction for me. I didn't like losing control.

Vince and I essentially dropped the subject at this point. I didn't want to give him a hard time right now. I knew he was dealing with the loss of a buddy. But, I wasn't going to see someone that I would consider to be my brother slip off the edge either.

We went to the garage that afternoon. Letty was there already working with my Dad. She was putting a lift on a Wrangler.

"I want a Wrangler," she commented, while she and I were standing out front taking a break.

"Why?" I asked.

"If I had a dollar for every time I needed to drive over a rock or through a river…," she started joking.

"You'd be poor with a slow car," I said. I couldn't really see Letty in a Wrangler. She needed a fast car not a tall one. But, she'd probably look cute in anything.

"Yeah," she replied. "But, I could see it being fun."

"And really practical in L.A.," I said sarcastically.

"For sure," she agreed.

We went back in and Letty and my Dad were installing a winch with synthetic cables on the same Wrangler. This was new and slightly interesting for me, as most cables I'd seen in the past were steel or fiber core.

I heard her discussing the installation with my Dad. It was adorable.

"I think we need to make our own mount. I don't think the front suspension hangers will let us attach anything we could order to mount it on," she said, closely examining the front end.

She looked so serious.

"I agree," he replied.

When it came to welding, my Dad carefully instructed her about all the angle iron placements. I noted how attentively she listened.

It was awesome to watch her inverting bolts and drilling holes in the metal plates. They continued to work and finished with glossing it black. They had to wait for this to dry so were discussing the wiring and the fusing they would do the next day.

"You're fusing the winch?" I asked surprised, rolling out from underneath a car I was working on. Granted, altering off road vehicles was not really my specialty. Letty seemed to really have a talent for it though. But then, she seemed to be good at anything she put her mind to.

"Everything but the starter motor's fused on it already- don't know who did all that but I could take a guess. And, that's what he said he wanted us to do," she replied, not really paying me much attention. I rolled back under.

I had never really watched her work so much. But for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off her that day. She was doing car modifications that I'd never even attempted. And, she did them skillfully. It was really attractive. It was almost sexy, in a "Popular Mechanics" kind of way. No, wait, no it wasn't. This was Letty. It wasn't sexy it was just…cool.

But, then I stopped myself. What was I thinking? Was it what she was doing that was hot? Or was it her? Surely it was just what she was doing. Rarely, no wait, never, did I see other girls attempting shit like this. And here was Letty, owning this task.

I realized, at that point, I had made zero progress on the Honda I was supposed to be replacing the exhaust on. In fact, I'd laid under the car for a couple of hours, only removed the stock exhaust, and not even gotten to the hangers yet. Oops.

Luckily Dad didn't notice that I hadn't done anything while I was there. We closed up the garage and Vince left to go home to get changed. We had plans to go to the races tonight with Zack. I figured that Vince needed a distraction. There was nothing like half naked girls and fast cars to entertain a high school fellow.

Dad was closing up the shop while Letty and I walked the couple of blocks back to the house. He did not really trusted my to stick around the shop after he left ever since Vince and I took the car. On the way back to the house, I contemplated inviting Letty to the races tonight. I knew that she always wanted to go. And, I was sure that she would have an amazing time. But, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to exhibit the persona that I wanted to if she was there. I wanted to have her there though. She was very disheveled, hair completely out of place, sweating, and greasy. It was awesome. She had worked hard. I could tell that she was on cloud nine from the things she had been able to do and learn from my Dad. I decided to ask her.

"So, what are you up to tonight," I asked, hesitantly.

"I don't know. I hadn't gotten that far yet," she replied.  
"Want to go to the races tonight with me, Vince, and Zack?" I asked casually.

"Sure," she replied.

"Cool, we hadn't really hung out in a while, " I said. Really, this slipped out. I should have stopped after 'cool' but instead I had to add. I wanted to revoke this but I couldn't.

"We were together all afternoon," she said, reacting to my previous statement.

"You're just too cool to hang out," I said, trying to recover.

"Yeah, that's it. _I'm_ too cool to hang out," she said sarcastically.

"So you admit it," I teased.

She gave me a weak punch and smiled. I knew what she was saying. I didn't make the time for her like I used to. But, every time I talked to her, was around her, or just saw her, it took me back. I felt like I was really myself around her. I didn't have to play any games. I could be honest. She liked me for me, and a me that no one else knew. The real me. I was comfortable, relaxed, and just enjoyed being around her. Something about her made me happy. I didn't have to worry about anything when I was near her. But, lately, I had been working so hard to build up an image and impress the rest of the world that I felt like I was leaving her on the sidelines. I had done a good job of building it up, though. But, at the same time, I felt like I was growing up so fast and she wasn't. She was definitely getting older but appearances were everything in my life right now. And, as long as she wasn't in high school, I didn't know what I could really do. I wanted to stay home every night and just hang out with her. And at the same time, I wanted to slowly start to introduce her to my new world. Maybe if I could somehow combine the two it would give me an even balance and I could relax a little bit.

On a positive note, though, she had become pretty good friends with Mia. She was helping Mia to chill out a little bit. Letty had that affect on people, though. She had the ability to make people relax- well, maybe not all people. Letty could be pretty damn intimidating when she wanted to. But, to others, those she knew and trusted, she was typically a very tranquil person. And this spread to those she was around.

We went back to the house and Mia and Dad made dinner. Letty took a shower. She used up all the warm water so by the time I got in it was cold. But, after today, a cold shower did me good.

A few hours later, Vince and Zack came by. My Dad had gone down to the basement to work on the plumbing. After, what seemed like a very long and laborious time, I had cleared all the shit out of the basement. The next step was to make sure everything was working properly. Dad was working on the bathroom because the toilet had been leaking.

Before we went to the races, the four of us stood outside of my house and had a beer. To my knowledge, this was Letty's first beer. I still don't know if it actually was or not, but I like to think it was and I was there for it. She was a natural drinker, clearly fitting in easily with the crew. Zack was excited that Letty was coming. He still really enjoyed her. I was apprehensive about this. Vince was just feeling very protective of her. I didn't want to let on that I felt anything about it. But, I didn't know how well I was doing this.

The strip was hopping. Everyone's team or clique was somewhat paired. But, there was always a lot of intermingling at the races.

"Dom Toretto," a voice spoke from behind me. I turned around from where I had been pointing various people and cars out to Letty. I was mainly doing this to keep any of the other guys from trying to talk to her.

"Johnny Tran," I verbally identified. This was our first real meeting. I had seen him around the races but never spoken to him. Ever since Zack and Lance got into the fight, the tension had been pretty thick between our two groups. I couldn't imagine why he picked tonight to come talk to me.

"I want to race you," he stated.

"I'm not racing tonight," I replied. We had ridden here with Zack. To my knowledge, he hadn't planned on racing either. We were here for the show and the party. But, unlike a lot of people, I studied the races. I noted what the engines sounded like before the drivers shifted gears and how they used their various performance parts for their optimal advantage.

He scoffed, "that's convenient."

"I'd say it's inconvenient because I'd love to kick your ass," I said, very serious. I would love to kill him on the streets. I didn't really know what he was running, but I disliked him enough to not care. Tran and his crew came from really wealthy families. They didn't have to work on their own cars or work to earn money to fix them up. We all resented that about them.

"Well step up," he challenged.

"If I had my car you better believe," I said, not wanting to back down from the challenge. But, my hands were tied.

"Guess I'll just have to wait for that day," Tran ridiculed.

"Yo, Tran, you got a problem," I said as he stood there, glaring at me, not leaving.

"No, Toretto. No problem, yet," he said slowly.

"If you got a problem we don't need cars to solve it. We can go right now," I said, opening up my arms as an invitation to fight. This seemed logical. Everyone knows that fighting makes problems go away. Regardless, I knew I could take him.

"Are you looking to rumble?" he asked. Was he serious? I was not Ponyboy and we were not in the _The Outsiders._ This remark made me laugh.

"Nope, just you and me. Let's go," I offered again.

"I'm not going to fight you," he replied, slightly taken back. I didn't think he would. It would have been entertaining though.

"Pussy," I said under my breath as Johnny turned to leave. I knew he heard me because he stopped walking. But, he didn't turn around. Instead, he just went back over to where his boys were standing. They stared at us the rest of the night but never did anything.

Letty had a great time at the races. I would have had a much better time if I had not been glaring at any guy that gave her a second look. I wished I would have had some type of indicator to signal to the guys at the race that Letty was off limits. But, all I could do was glare. It seemed, to work, for the most part. Letty dressed somewhat differently for the races than she usually did. She wore a pair of skintight black pants and a tank top. The tank top was pretty standard but I had no idea where she had gotten the pants from. I was a fan. She looked good and the boys noticed, mostly the younger one, the high school guys, but I didn't really want anyone to notice.

Kershaun ended up racing and cleaning up the streets. It was always awesome to have someone that you were friends with win the race. The after party was held at the house of Hector's cousin, Emilio. Emilio was a pretty cool guy.

Letty did not end up coming back to the party with us. She said that she had made prior plans with Mia to do something that sounded girlie and very uncharacteristic of Letty. I figured Mia had pressured her into it. I did not press her for details, though. It actually worked out better. The after parties were usually where people hooked up or at least entered into the precursors of hooking up. And, I didn't want Letty to have any part of this. Also, I didn't want Letty to see me taking part in this.

That night, I really wanted to hook up with Emilio's sister Jasmine. If she hadn't been Hector's cousin, and I had been a year or two older, I would have definitely tried to get with her. But, I could see from across the room that Kershaun's win had given him the confidence to try and hit it with her so I didn't even pretend to try.

"Yo, Dom, see that girl over there," Zack pointed across the room.

"Nah, where? I don't see any girls," I joked, there were girls everywhere. It was awesome.

"The one in the plaid skirt and white top. The Asian girl over there, you see her?" he pointed across the crowd.

"Yeah," I replied. She was pretty hot. She was kind of short but had a really nice body.

"That's Tran's sister," he informed me.

"What's her name?" I asked. It makes approaching a girl a little bit easier if you have any information on them.

"Oh, I have no clue," he said. Okay. Guess I'd have to do this with zero information.

"Well, guess I'll have to find out," I said cockily.

I moseyed over to her. She was standing by the keg so it was an easy "chance" meeting. I got into the line and eyed her. She glanced up at me and our eyes met. I didn't want to say anything. I wanted to see if she would make the first move. I didn't even notice that the joker in front of my started funneling beers. However, I did notice when Vince got up and started doing a keg stand. I had to cheer on my boy. And, he didn't disappoint. Vince could throw back some beer, even when it came directly from the tap.

"Hey," she said, eyeing me. So far my plan was working.

"What's up?" I said relaxed.

"You're Dom," she told me. This was information I was already aware of. It always baffled me when people told me my own name.

"Yeah," I stated.

"I'm Kim," she informed me. Now, I had her name. I would just have to remember it.

"Pleasure to meet you," I said, leaving the keg line and walking over to her.

"Is it now?" she asked. What kind of a question was that? Odd.

"Hopefully," I said.

"I think you know my brother," she said, knowing that I did.

"Who's that?" I asked, trying to play along like I didn't have a master plan to hook up with Tran's sister merely to piss him off.

"Johnny Tran," she said.

"Yeah, I know him," I replied, doing my best not to exhibit too much disdain.

"He doesn't like you very much," she said indifferently.

"Well, he's in good company," I said. Hanging out with Zack, and Vince, and going to the races, being as cocky and as willing to fight as I was, I had racked up quite a few enemies at this point in my high school career. But, I didn't care. It was all part of the game.

"I heard you weren't a very nice guy," she added, not really putting much feeling behind this. I felt like she was mainly looking for a response, or trying to get my riled up. I thought this was pretty funny.

"That depends, I can be," I said, moving closer to her. "I can be a really nice guy." With this, I put my arm around her. She leaned into me.

"Hm," she voiced.

"Where do you go to school?" I said, getting cozy with her by the side of the house.

"Marlborough," she replied.

"That's all girls isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"Nice," I said enthusiastically. That is most teenage boy's dream. I knew that I would enjoy school if I were the only guy there.

"Well, I don't know. I'm sure you'd like it, though," she joked.

"I'm sure I would," I agreed. "You want a beer?" I eased up from the house a bit and reached out for her empty cup.

"Sure," she said, handing me the cup. I went over and pumped the keg and then poured her a beer.

"Good job, no head," she remarked, referring to my nearly practical transference of the beer to the cup with absolutely no foam on top.

"You say that now," I smiled. Sexual references were always key to a high school hook up.

"That's what you think," she replied, giving me a devilish grin. I could take this one of two ways, and I decided to take it in the way that would work to my advantage.

"This party is pretty lame. You want to get out of here?" I asked, downing my beer.

"This party is not lame," she laughed. "But, I'll get out of here with you."

"Nice," I said, leading her out of the crowd. I exchanged looks with Vince as we made our way to the street. We weren't far from my house. My Dad wasn't gone, but I figured it was late enough for everyone at my house to be asleep. Just in case, I'd take her in through the basement. This basement was going to come in handy.

TBC

---

AJ


	16. Chapter 16

As we made our way through the yard, I noticed that Kim was surprisingly drunk. I guess I had not noticed during our brief conversation leading up to the short walk from Emilio's house to my own. I didn't really care, though, I just didn't want her to make a whole lot of noise and wake up anyone. I had no idea what time it was but the house looked really dark. I opened the door that lead to the basement from the outside and switched on the lights.

As light filled the room, I lead Kim inside.

"So this is where you live?" she asked. What was with this girl? I guess I'd just had enough to drink to want to be a major smart ass. I was sixteen, where else would I be taking her? But, I refrained.

"Yep," I responded. Just then I saw Letty look up from the couch. Damn. What the hell was she doing down here? I immediately froze as if maybe she wouldn't see me.

"Hey guys," she said sleepily. I guess she had spotted us.

"Hi! I'm Kim. You must be Dom's sister," Kim said very cheerfully.

"Um," Letty laughed. "Not exactly."

Kim looked over at me. I was avoiding looking at her all together.

"Kim this is Letty. Letty, Kim," I said reluctantly. I was very disappointed at how this had worked out. It had not gone at all like I had planned. Of all the people that could find me in this situation, Letty was the last one I would have preferred. I would rather have had my Dad down here than her. He probably would have just thought it was funny. I certainly wasn't getting that vibe from Letty.

"It's great to meet you," Letty said sarcastically.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked Letty.

"Waiting up for you actually. I didn't know you were going to have company," she said, looking at Kim.

"Hey Dom," Kim interrupted. "Do you have bathroom?"

"Nope, you'll have to go outside," Letty replied to her. Damn, rarely did I get to see this side of Letty so late at night. I didn't really know what to make of it. I thought it was pretty hilarious though.

"Ugh, yeah, it's right over there," I pointed, hoping that my Dad had finished working on it today.

"Thanks," she said, rubbing my arm while looking at Letty. Awkward. She made her way to the bathroom and shut the door.

"So, you were waiting up? What's up?" I asked trying to act like this whole thing had not just happened. I was glad that Kim was out of the picture for now.

"Nothing. Just going to talk about the race and stuff. And, mainly I was hiding from Mia. She was trying to put highlights in my hair," Letty said, standing up and stretching. She was wearing one of my old shirts. I had given it to her one day to wear at the shop. She was wearing a pair of really short shorts that were invisible until she lifter her arms. I was digging it.

"Well you want to hang out?" I asked, sitting down on the couch. I would have preferred to kick Kim out and just hang out with Letty. But, this was all-around uncomfortable for me. I didn't think there was any winning at this point.

"I'd sooner die. But, thanks for asking," she said as Kim came out of the bathroom. She had been used the bathroom in record time.

"Where are you going?" I asked, as Letty turned to leave the basement.

"To bed. I thought I'd give you guys some privacy," she said, walking up the stairs.  
"Nice to meet you, Letty," Kim said, getting comfortable on the couch next to me.

"Yeah, it was a real treat," she said not turning around and closing the door behind her.

I felt like I'd really messed up in a great capacity. I didn't know why Letty was waiting up. The fact she wanted to talk really wasn't that out of the ordinary. We hadn't talked in a while. I had really started to miss it. And, here I went, throwing away my opportunity just to make Johnny Tran mad. I guess group rivalries run pretty deep. I wanted to go after her. I wanted to tell Kim that we should take a rain check. But, I knew I couldn't. I didn't know Kim at all but if she ran her mouth the way the rest of the Tran clan did, then having her leave my house would be very detrimental for me.

What was wrong with me? What was I willing to sacrifice for my reputation? But I did not know what running after Letty would do either. What if she did just want to talk about the races? I would throw away the chance at really getting back at Johnny for being such an ass tonight to shoot the breeze with someone who lived in my house? I knew that I could talk to Letty about the race tomorrow. And, maybe she was just hiding from Mia. That sounded plausible. Maybe I was reading way too much into this. Maybe _I_ just wanted to hang out with her and she really didn't care about what had just happened. I didn't know. But, at this point, I had waited so long contemplating the entire situation, I'd missed my opportunity with Letty. But, Kim was still here. She was jabbering on about something. Carpe diem. If Letty was going to think I was a player, a jerk, whatever the correct terminology may be (which I probably didn't want to know), I may as well prove her right. Nothing pleased her more than being right.

Regardless, I averted my attention towards Kim. I didn't know what she was talking about, but I wanted her to be quiet. I leaned over and started kissing her. That seemed to do the trick.

At this point Tran was somewhat out of the picture. I was doing this for me, more so than to get back at him. I guessed that was probably better. She was very receptive to the kissing.

She was even equally as down when I reached my hand up her shirt. In fact, she pulled her shirt off completely without any type of initiation from me. Unhooking bras had always been a special gift of mine. And, in a heartbeat, hers was on the floor. I took off my shirt and we begin to get serious. Something about the whole situation just didn't seem right. But, instead of listening to my better instinct, I unbuttoned her pants. She did the same to me and the rest was very nice history…

The next morning I woke up. My neck hurt. I was still on the couch. So was Kim. We were both naked. I didn't know what time it was but I figured it was time for her to go. I sat up, in attempt to wake her up. I searched the room until I found my boxers. As I got up to put them on I saw her start to rouse.

"Good morning," she smiled up at me.

"Hey," I said.

I sat back down and rubbed the small of her back. I didn't want to be rude, but she needed to leave.

"I think my Dad may be up soon. We probably need to get going," I said. And by _we_ I meant her.

"Yeah, that's cool. I had fun last night," she said, leaning up to kiss me. I obliged.

"Me too," I said, standing up and putting on my jeans. I wanted to encourage her to get moving without words.

She sat up. She was still pretty hot. She gave me a devilish grin. I felt conflicted. Should I go for it? Morning sex was rarely an option. And, theoretically, it shouldn't have been an option now. But I knew I would go for it. As quickly as the jeans came on, they went off. I liked the basement.

"Hey Dominic, you want some…," Letty started. I could tell by her voice that she was half way down the steps. "Oh god!" She turned around and left, closing the door behind her.

"Shit," I said, getting off of Kim. Motherfucker. That was all I could think. That was like the second time today that I had made things really awkward between Letty and I. Letty just walked in on me making out with a naked girl in my boxers. Thank God we weren't having sex. I didn't like the basement anymore. And, after what just happened, morning sex was really no longer optional. That had pretty much killed my desire to do anything.

Kim seemed somewhat taken back. I didn't think she really understood Letty and her role in our household or in my life. But I wasn't about to take the time to explain it to her.

"Let's just go. I guess they're up," I said to Kim. I wasn't mad at her. I was mad at myself. But, I felt like it was coming out as if I was mad at her. I couldn't do anything about this. I was mad at the world by this point.

She got dressed and took the inevitable walk of shame out of my house and to my car. I unlocked the doors and drove her to her house. The only positive note for the morning was that when I dropped Kim off, Johnny was outside. He witnessed the entire scene. And, because he was outside, I decided to give her a long, passionate kiss goodbye and him an arrogant smirk.

By the time I pulled back up to my house, I had pretty much decided that I didn't want to go inside. Instead, I turned around and headed for the garage. I didn't want to face the looks that Letty would give me. I was sure that she had come up with some bullshit excuse for my Dad about why I didn't want whatever it was that she was offering. I would venture to guess that it was food but I guess I would never find out.

I parked my car outside the garage. Vince and my Dad's cars were already there. When I got inside Vince, my Dad, and Letty were already working. Damn. Why had they all decided to work early on a Saturday?

"Nice to see you gracing us with your presence today, Dominic," Dad said.

"Yeah, no problem," I said, smarting off to him. I was lucky I didn't get slapped in the jaw with a response like this. But, he was too busy working on the wiring with Letty.

"Dominic," Mia called out from the back office. Shit, where did she come from?

She walked out carrying a stack of papers.  
"Did you finish that exhaust yesterday on that Honda?" she asked, staring at paperwork.

"No, but I will today," I replied.

"You didn't finish it?" she asked, confused and annoyed.

"What did I just say?" I snapped back.

"Why not?" she insisted.  
"Cuz I didn't," I replied. Gosh, I really didn't feel like getting hassled. And I couldn't be honest about why I hadn't. Apparently, I wasn't in a very good mood.

"Alright, well do you think you could finish it today? We are supposed to get it back to him Monday," Mia stated.

"Yeah, Mia, fine. Damn. Lay the fuck off," I said.

With this statement, my Dad stopped what he was doing, grabbed me by my shirt collar and pulled me into the back office. I was a little surprised by this brash movement. He definitely caught me off guard. I was really tired from getting zero sleep the night before and was not expecting to be dragged around. My Dad was a pretty big guy and my balance wasn't at it's best. He didn't have any trouble moving me.

"Boy, if I ever catch you talking to your sister like that again I will knock you into next Tuesday," he said, letting go of me after we were in the office.

"Alright, Pop, sorry!" I said, still in a state of shock.

"What the hell is the matter with you? What were you thinking?" he said. Why was he so pissed? I was usually really nice to Mia. I didn't think I'd been that big of an ass. Apparently, I crossed some imaginary line in his book, though.

"I guess I wasn't," I said.

"She works so hard here. She could be working at Angie's store. But, she comes here and does the books and the paperwork. And she's good at it. You show her some respect," Dad said, lowering his tone a little. Angie was my Dad's half sister. She was a lot older and had been trying to convince Mia to help out at her grocery store/sandwich counter for the past year. She would go occasionally, but preferred to be over at the garage with everyone else. Angie liked having Mia's company and wanted to teach her how to run things over there so she could retire soon. She did have any of her own children and had always been close with Mia.

"Alright, sorry," I said.

"What has been up with you lately? Where were you last night?" he asked, no so much concerned as upset.

"I just went out. But I came home," I said.

"You went out? Jesus, Dominic, it's almost three o'clock in the afternoon. You couldn't make it here till now?" he said, looking up at the clock.

Wow, when did it get so late? Why was I so tired then? We must have not gone to bed until really late. No wonder everyone was already here. It wasn't long before closing time.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I've just been real busy lately. But, I'll be nice to Mia. I appreciate what she does here," I told him.

"Well, I can make you un-busy in a hurry if you're not careful son. But, I'm not the one you need to be telling this to," he said, pushing me back out of the office by my collar in Mia's general direction. I kind of thought I was too old for this. I guess not. I didn't think it was really what I'd just said to Mia that caused Dad to get so mad. I had a feeling that it was a culmination of things. I had really slacked off lately- at work, at school, at home. It was starting to come back and bite me in the ass.

"Mia, I'm sorry. What I meant to say was that I didn't have time to finish it up yesterday. I had a lot going on and got really busy. But I will today. You can call them and tell them to pick it up Monday," I explained calmly.

"Okay," she replied, turning to go back into the office.

"Yeah, you were busy, huh?" Letty asked, from the front side of the Wrangler.

I didn't want to deal with that type of smart-ass comment right now. Not after just being shirted by my Dad. I ignored her, rolled under the Honda, and got to work on the hangers.

"What's up with you?" she asked, coming over and looking underneath the car at me.

"Nothing. Why you gotta call me out in front of my Dad?" I asked, kind of pissed. I didn't bother to stop working. I didn't want to be 'too busy' to not get my work done.

"Oh, come on. He wasn't listening," she said. And that was true. He ignored most of the conversations that Vince, Letty, and I had together at the garage.

"Whatever," I said, still not looking at her.

"Alright, act mad at me," she smiled, turning to go back over to the Wrangler.

"I'm not mad at you," I told her. She stopped.

"I know," she said. This frustrated me so much. But, it made me smile too. She knew me too well. Sometimes I just wanted to slug her. But, most of the time I wanted to…finish working on the Honda.

I finished installing the exhaust. It really didn't take that long when I actually put my mind to it.

Dad closed up the shop and I walked towards my car. Letty had ridden with Vince and, from the direction she was heading, I supposed she was going to ride back with him too.

"Yo Dom," Vince called over from his car.

I looked up at him.

"I want to hear about your crazy night, bro," he smiled.

"You guys are terrible," Letty rolled her eyes and got into Vince's car.

I just nodded at him.

We all met back at the house and Vince and I headed down to the basement to talk.

"So…" he said, encouraging me to start.

"So, what?" I joked. I knew what he wanted to hear about.

"How pissed is Tran going to be," Vince asked.

"Well, I saw him this morning when I dropped his sister off at her house," I smiled.

"Nice," he replied.

"Yeah, that was a nice ending," I agreed.

"She's pretty hot, though," Vince said.

"Yeah, she was," I concurred.

"So is this like a one time thing or are you going to keep things up with her?" Vince asked.

Before I could answer, Letty opened the basement door and called down, "is it safe to come down?"

I was glad that she had. I didn't really know the answer to this question. I didn't know Kim. I had fun with her. But, I wasn't really into dating. I thought Vince might be asking because he wanted to hook up with her, though. I didn't care if he did.

"Shut up," I called back.

"Just checking," she remarked.

"I think I missed something," Vince said confused.

"You miss a lot, V," Letty mocked, coming over and sitting down on the couch beside me.

"So, what are we going to do for my birthday?" Vince asked, changing the subject completely.

"Whatever you want to do buddy," I told him.

"What are we going to do for _my_ birthday," Letty asked.

"Whatever you want to do buddy," Vince replied, repeating and somewhat mocking me. Whatever.

"Thanks," she said flippantly.

We continued to talk about party festivities. Vince had planned to go down to Hector's. I decided to stay behind, so did Letty. I wanted a chance to talk to her. I wanted to make sure we were cool. I figured that was the best I could hope for after what had happened today.

"Let, I want to talk to you about last night. Well, I guess it was technically this morning. Both times," I said seriously after Vince had made his exit.

"Why?" she asked puzzled.  
"Well, I mean, I didn't want things to be weird," I started. I didn't know if this was the best choice of words but there really was no good way to say it.

"Trust me, Dom, it would be weirder if we talked about it," she smiled.

"Alright," I said. I guess she didn't want to. Surprisingly, Letty didn't want to talk about her feelings. So, instead, we spent the rest of the evening talking about the races and what she had done with Mia the night before. It was awesome. She was sitting beside me on the couch. She brought her legs up and her calves were resting beside my left leg. I "accidentally" touched them a few times. She was so soft I wanted to just start rubbing her leg. I couldn't, but I wanted to. We talked until late into the evening. I had been tired, but she rejuvenated me. It was like old times, but better.

TBC

---

AJ


	17. Chapter 17

About half way through the school year, so right before Christmas break, they made an announcement that they were changing the structure of the schools in Los Angeles. I didn't watch the news or read the newspaper and didn't really care about school system structure until I realized what it meant. They were shifting the grades. Now, what was once junior high was going to introduce 6th graders to the mix and it was going to be labeled middle school. In turn, 9th grade was going to move to the high school. I didn't really see the point in doing this. But, it meant one thing- Letty would be at the high school with me the next year.

"So, you're going to be coming to school with the big kids next year," I joked with her one day after Christmas break had started.

"That's what they tell me," she replied, unenthused.

"Think you can handle it?" I asked her.

"Gee, I don't know Dom. Luckily, I'll have you there to protect me," she said sarcastically. She had no idea. I was sure that I would watch her like a hawk.

"Yeah, don't worry. I run that high school," I swaggered.

"Oh, I'm sure," she replied in disbelief.

"What can I say? I Dom-in-ate!" I joked. This was a horrible joke. Only around Letty would I say something that was clearly this ridiculous. I mainly did it for a response.

"You did not just say that," she smiled.

"You like that, huh?" I smiled back.

"Um, I'm probably going to go ahead and pretend like I never heard that," she joked.

"So what are you doing tonight?" I asked. I wanted to hang out with her. I had been far too distracted this year. I needed to focus again. And, Letty was an amazing focus. She had really grown up a lot this year. She had turned into an extremely awesome girl. She was hot and she had a great personality. Even better, she was going to be at my school next year. Soon, I would be out of pansy-ass excuses for not actually making a move on her.

"I don't know. It's Wednesday," she said. As if that made a difference. Wednesday, just another day.

"Sometimes I do things on Wednesdays," I told her, teasing.

"Dom, you do things everyday," she remarked.

"That's because…" I started.

"And, please don't make another stupid joke," she interrupted.

"Fine. Well do you want to do something?" I asked, finally finding my balls again. For months I'd wanted to ask Letty to hang out, just us, but hadn't been able to. Usually when we were together there were other people around. I enjoying hanging out with a group but had missed the time that we got to spend alone. It certainly, by no means, was meant as a date. And I didn't anticipate that Letty interpreted this invitation as such. But, I just wanted to chill with her. I didn't know why I had been such a wuss about it.

"Sure. What do you want to do?" she asked. She didn't want to know what I really wanted to do.  
"I don't know. Let's go rent a bunch of lame scary movies and make fun of them," I suggested.

"Okay," she agreed.

We went outside and got into my car. I decided to take the long way to the video store. A couple of weeks ago, Vince and I had discovered a straight strip leading up to some railroad tracks that was exactly a quarter of a mile. We used to fuck around and drag there after school sometimes. But, I wanted to go up against some other people. It was fun to race Vince, but I knew everything under his hood. The thrill was minimal.

"Where are we going?" Letty asked.

"The movie store. We're taking the scenic route," I told her.

As I pulled up to the stoplight, I was in luck. A young guy that I had never met before pulled up beside me. How convenient. I didn't notice him till her revved his engine. I looked over at him and he motioned for me to roll down my window.

"What are you running under there," he asked me.

I didn't answer this question. I just smiled and said, "You want to go? On green?"

"Let's go," he said.

I revved my engine back and stared at the light. Red. Red. Still red. This was the longest light ever. Then, finally, green. I floored it and shifted. I looked over at Letty. She was smiling. The guy and I were running almost neck and neck. But, on my next shift, I gained a clear lead. I shifted again, and again. We got to the tracks. I had won. We weren't betting any money, but it was still a rush. We both slowed down on the other side.

"You running some pretty hot shit," he told me.

"Thanks, man," I replied.

"What's your name?" he inquired.

"I'm Dom," I told him.

"Edwin," he said.

"You ever been out to the races?" I asked. I would have imagined that any guy that was this willing to race had been. But, I didn't recall ever seeing him before.

"Nah, man. I just moved here. What races?" he asked excitedly.

"Just a little something that comes together on the weekends. You should check it out," I invited.

"Sounds cool," he said.

"Here, I'll give you my number. You can come out and see what we're all about this weekend," I said.

"Awesome," he replied. I wasn't usually this open about giving people my number. But, he was the first person I'd dragged out here that wasn't Vince. I liked him. I wrote my number down on a piece of paper and handed it over to him.

"Alright, yo. You guys do this every weekend?" he asked, very interested.

"Just about," I told him. I looked over at Letty. I felt like I should make some sort of an introduction. "Edwin, this is my girl, Letty."

"Sup, girl," he said, eyeing her.

"Hey man," Letty said.

"Alright, just give me a call this weekend. I think you'll have fun," I said, trying to distract him because he was still checking her out.

"Cool. Check you later," he relied.

"See you," I said. He turned left and headed down the road.

"Your girl?" Letty questioned as we pulled off.

I just rolled my eyes. Honestly, it had just sort of slipped out. I wasn't going to lie, though, I liked the way that sounded. But, I wasn't thrilled about Letty's reaction.

"Sorry, next time I'll say that you are my junior high school friend," I teased.

"You're such a dick," she said annoyed with my response. I didn't often bring up her age. I guess, I didn't want to keep reminding myself that she was two years younger than me. Two years didn't really make much of a difference. But, at this point, it really seemed to. I couldn't tell people that my girlfriend was in middle school, junior high, whatever the hell it was. That just sounded creepy.

"Or, I guess I could say that you were my mechanic. But, who would believe that?" I said, in jest. Everyone that found out that Letty worked at the garage with us was extremely impressed. Girls in the racing world typically knew about cars. Rarely, though, did they actually put in the wrench time.

"That's funny. You're a funny guy," she replied, punching me in the arm.

"Yeah, that's the word on the street," I said back.

"I don't know. I think funny is one of the few words I've never heard people call you," she smirked.

I just looked over at her. This received no response.

We got to the video rental store and made our way to the horror section. I let Letty select a couple of old scary movies. We got them back home, popped some popcorn, and got ready to make fun of idiotic girls that ran upstairs towards their killer.

I sat on one end of the couch while Letty transferred the popcorn into a bowl. She came in and placed the bowl between us. I was sort of hoping that she would have sat a little bit closer but there wasn't really anything I could do about this. I just acted casual.

"She's in for it now…oh, I knew it," she said, as some random secondary character got stabbed. It was bloody, in a ridiculous 1960's type of way. Regardless, Letty turned her head and leaned into my shoulder. She wasn't afraid of, well, anything. I was a little surprised by this reaction. And, it wasn't gory. But, I also wasn't complaining.

Should I put my arm around her? In a normal situation, I probably would have already done it. This wasn't a normal situation, though. This was Letty. However, her move really gave me an opportunity. I didn't know. I didn't want to take any chances. I wanted to do it, though. I didn't really know what would happen. I wasn't sure if I was brave enough to enter such uncharted waters. I could make it a joke. But, it would be hard to explain if she wasn't okay with it. And, I was afraid that I would take any type of pseudo rejection way too seriously to not get sort of pissed, or at least kind of hurt.

Okay, I needed to just do it. Just suck it up. This was, of course, easier said than done. I just needed to lift my arm. Just lift it. She had already scooted over closer to me. Of course, with Letty, I realized this probably didn't really mean shit. But, I would never know if I didn't try. I couldn't do it. What the hell was wrong with me? I was being such a damn pussy.

Before I realized it, the movie was over. Fuck. I missed my chance.

"You want me to put the other movie in?" I asked as the ending credits rolled by.

"Yeah, let's see if the exact same thing happens in this one," she joked.

"I bet it does," I said, standing up to slip in the next movie. I hoped that it would. Maybe I'd get another chance and find wherever it was that I had dropped my testicles.

"You bet what?" she asked. A challenge. This is why I liked Letty.

"Oh I don't. No offense but are you really going to place something against that?" I asked. I was down with winning. I could think of a lot of things I'd like to bet Letty. However, given as I wouldn't even put my arm around her, I doubted if I would actually say any of them.

"Let's bet your car," she smiled.

"What are you going to put up?" I asked. I couldn't think of a single thing that she could put up that would cause me to put up my car. Well, maybe one thing.

"My car," she replied.

"What car? Hell no. You're crazy," I said, sitting back down. I should have sat back down and casually slipped my arm around her shoulders. But, I didn't. I did manage to scoot very close next to her. She was sitting with her legs to the side.

"Not yet. One day," she said matter-of-factly.

I knew she would have a car. She would have a very hot car. I had hoped that she'd kicked the Wrangler idea out of her head, though. But, for now, I liked the way Letty looked sitting beside me in my car.

"Well, when that day comes, we'll talk," I told her.

We watched the rest of the movie. I decided to stop thinking about putting my arm around her. I didn't know what was wrong with me. But, I was too nervous to try it. And, the more I thought about it, the more pissed I got at myself. I decided to just ignore it.

Letty grabbed a couch pillow and put it down in my lap. She laid her head down and stretched out. What was this? This was new.

"Can I help you?" I asked, looking down at her. The lights were off and the only light in the room was coming off the television. She looked so relaxed, content.

"No, I'm good," she said. She was so casual about the whole thing. How could she do things like this and I couldn't even muster up the courage to put my arm around her? I guess a lot of it had to do with feelings. I felt too much. It made things too difficult. I was overanalyzing. I was turning into a girl.

I looked down at her. She was looking at the television. She didn't look as young as she used to. She was turning into a really pretty girl. She had such unique features. Her eyes were so dark and her lips were full and luscious. Her skin was tan. The way her hair fell framed her face perfectly. It ran over her thin, delicate shoulders. I needed to stop this and just watch the movie. I had no idea what was going on- with me and Letty or in the movie. But, I didn't care about the movie. This other thing I was really going to have to figure out.

TBC

---

AJ


	18. Chapter 18

My slacking off got to a point where I really had no choice but to get my act together. My grades for that year were pretty dismal, but I managed to pass. I realized that I'd gotten way too deep, way too fast. By the end of the school year I was really trying to get back on track. I didn't want to top out at sixteen. That entire summer I tried to keep the partying down to a minimum. I started really busting my ass at the garage. But, mainly, I tried to spend as much time that summer with Letty as possible. We went to the beach together pretty much everyday. And, as the summer started to taper off, I had stopped randomly hooking up with girls- with a few minor exceptions. Vince found this very suspicious.

School started back and Letty was there. It made school worth going to just to see her in the hall in between classes. Still trying to redeem myself to my Dad, I even started picking Mia up after school so she wouldn't have to ride the bus.

"So, what has been up with you lately bro?" Vince asked suspiciously one day after the first week of school.

"Nothing, just had a lot on my mind," I responded, not really wanting to get into it.

"Like what?" he pushed.

"Girl troubles, you wouldn't understand," I joked. Vince never managed to spend enough time with any one girl to have many problems.

"Fuck you," he responded. "What, hadn't been able to tap it with Kim again, huh?"

"I didn't say that," I smiled.

"So you did?" he asked, for clarification.

"Come on," I said, ambiguously.

"That ain't no answer," he said. He knew me. We all wanted to let on that we could sleep with anyone at any time. But, that was not necessarily true.

"Hell yeah I did," I said full of pride.

"Sweet, so is she becoming like a series regular?" he inquired. She was one of my minor exceptions. It was beyond just making her brother mad. She was pretty fun to hang out with. I would never want to date her seriously. But, she was able to distract me from thinking about Letty.

"Nah, I wouldn't go that far," I replied.

"I understand. So, and…how was it?" he questioned.

"And, it wasn't bad. That's why it's happened more than once," I let on.

"So, I don't see where all these problems are coming from," Vince said confused.

"It's complicated," I replied.

"Like hell it is," he said.

"Listen, you can't say shit to anyone about this. If you do, I swear to God bro," I threatened.

"I won't," he promised.

I hesitated for a minute before finally telling Vince what I had not told a single soul. I couldn't believe that I was doing this. But, he was my best friend. In a way, he kind of deserved to know why I'd been going to so nuts this past year. "Alright," I sighed before continuing. I cleared my throat and said, "I like someone but I don't really know if she likes me." I knew how cheesy it sounded as soon as I said it.

Vince smiled. I wanted to punch him.

"Aw, that's sad," he mocked.

"I'll be damned if I ever tell you anything again," I said punching his arm.

"Nah dude, who's the girl," he said, attempting to be a friend.

"That, I'm definitely not telling you," I said.

"It's Letty isn't it?" he smiled.

I hesitated, "nah".

"Yes it is. It's been Letty for like four years," he said. What? Was it that obvious? I felt blind sighted by this statement. I felt like my face was starting to get red. But, I didn't want it to. I tried to play it cool. My jaw tensed up and I tried to take my mind elsewhere. Maybe, if I thought about something else, I wouldn't show it.

"No, its not Letty," I stood my lying ground.

"Who is it then?" he asked, still knowing he was right.

I rubbed my eyes. I looked down at the ground and said, "alright, it's Letty. But don't say shit."

"I'm not. God, I'm not that big of a dick," he said. I just looked at him. Yeah right.

"Why don't you just hit on her and see what happens," he suggested. Vince, always offering such sound, golden advice.

"Because, that'd be weird," I responded. It would be. I could not see myself hitting on Letty. To be completely honest, I didn't even really know how to hit on Letty. She wasn't like other girls. I didn't anticipate the same rules applied with her.

"Then how do you expect to do anything about it?" he questioned. Vince had a hard time seeing a whole lot difference between girls. I knew that he recognized Letty as different, but not in the same way that I did.  
"I don't know, fool, that's why I got problems," I told him.

"Well you gonna sit around and cry about it or are you going to do something about it," he challenged.

"When I figure out what I'm going to do, I'll do it," I said. I didn't want to tell him that I couldn't risk that chance of losing her as a friend. At least having her in my life as my friend was better than not having her in my life. I had no idea how she felt about me. I was afraid that I had waited so long that I had literally taken on a big brother role for her. And, I was pretty sure she wouldn't want to hook up with her big brother.

But, I couldn't just walk down the hall to her bedroom and say, 'Letty I just wanted to tell you that I think you're really hot. I really like you and I think we should start dating'. That wasn't really my style. When it came down to it, I didn't think I was really very good at talking to girls. For the most part, I didn't care about what they were saying. I never really had to get a girl, they were always just there. They were always really into flirting and seemed very willing to hook up. There was never a chase. I didn't think that I would be very good the whole dating game. But, Letty was so different. I cared what she had to say. I cared about what she thought and how she felt. I didn't think that she had ever flirted with me, intentionally anyway. There was a lot more to her than anyone else realized. And, a rejection from her would have killed my pride, broken my heart, and made my home life really uncomfortable. There was too much at stake. I wondered if I should even bother.

"Alright, man, well if there's anything that I can do…" he remarked.  
"Yeah, I'll let you know," I said. What could Vince do? Hell, I didn't even know what I could do. I probably didn't want to know what Vince would do.

"Alright, well on a more important note. You ready for tonight? You got to defend your title against Tran," Vince said. Of course that was more important to Vince. You had to love his one-track mind.

"Oh I'm ready," I replied. A week earlier I had finally raced Tran, one-on-one. We had done group races, but the one-on-one was really where you could show someone up. And, I'd kicked his ass. It was probably one of the most amazing things I had ever done. Zack beating up Lance, me sleeping with Tran's sister, and now me beating him on the road- my group was definitely on top. I wanted to keep it that way. He had challenged me to a rematch. I loved a challenge.

TBC

---

AJ

So I know it's short but it was a necessary component for the upcoming chapter. Things may finally be getting started for Dom and Letty. It's about time…


	19. Chapter 19

I walked down the hall towards my trig class. I hated math, especially trigonometry. I could not imagine a time that I would ever use it again. And, the fact that they were making me take it pissed me off every day I decided to go. In the few short weeks since school had started, I had gotten in the habit of skipping trig and leaving right after Weight Lifting class. I had this class with Vince. The football coach was the teacher but since neither Vince nor I were on the team, he pretty much didn't pay us a lot of attention. Vince and I were in a constant battle with another couple of guys in the class to see who could life the most weight that semester. It kept us strong and entertained. But, today, I'd come for the whole day.

That was when I saw it. I saw Letty leaning against her locker. She was talking to some guy. He had his arm propped up against the locker beside hers and was getting dangerously close. He was acting exactly the same way I did when I wanted to hook up with a girl. Oh hell no. I walked up to her just as he walked away.

"Who's that guy?" I asked inquisitively, trying to reveal absolutely no emotion in my voice.

"Just some guy," she said casually.

"He ain't got a name?" I continued.

"No," she stated resentfully.

I just stared at her. Letty dating. That was not something that I was prepared to handle. Perhaps I'd missed my opportunity. At this point, a whole different type of protectiveness came over me. I was no longer her shelter to run to. Instead, I just wanted to kick any guy's ass that thought he might have a chance with her. I didn't want to think about it. I tried to block the images that were starting to pop up in my mind out as quickly as they entered. This attempt was to no avail. All I could see was grungy, skeezy guys trying to cop a feel or worse.

"Alright, whatever," I said, turning and walking away.

"What's wrong Dom?" she laughed.

"Shut up," I said, still walking away. She threw a piece of paper at me. I turned around and glared at her. She just smiled. Damn, she had the cutest smile. I had to turn around before I smiled. I was trying to play it cool. That was clearly working out fabulously for me.

I had no idea what that fool teaching my trig class talked about that day. I kept thinking about that guy. I knew that I couldn't do anything to him. He hadn't done anything, yet. And, Letty would be pissed. I wasn't trying to piss her off. I didn't see why she didn't just not date anyone but allow me see girls from time to time, until I got up the courage to ask her out. Well, I could see why she didn't do that. But, I was driving myself crazy. Finally, the bell rang. I darted out of class very quickly. I glanced back over at Letty's locker. There was no one there.

"Hey Dom," Jenny, a girl I'd hooked up with last weekend, said. I hadn't even seen her and almost ran right into her.

"Oh, hey," I said, not really wanting to stop. I wasn't trying to be a jerk but I really didn't want Letty to see me talking to her. And, I didn't really have anything to say to her.

"Hey, what's the rush? I thought we could talk about stuff," she said, her hands coming down towards my waist. I picked up her hands and gently removed them from me.

"Listen, I can't right now. But, maybe I'll see you later," I said walking out the school doors.

I walked out to my car. I saw Vince. I didn't see Letty anywhere. She was probably talking to that guy. I would have to wait on her.

"Happy birthday brother," I said, walking up to him.

"Yeah, seventeen. Nothing much changes at seventeen. Not nearly as good as sixteen. But, hey, that much closer to eighteen," he said hopefully.

"Yeah, then you'll have to stop sleeping with those junior high girls. Wait it's middle school now, makes them sound younger, huh?" I joked. I knew he wasn't really sleeping with anyone in middle school.

"Funny," he said, not laughing. "Look who's talking?"

"She's in high school," I retorted. I knew he was talking about my infatuation with Letty.

"Now," Vince replied. It was absolutely no surprise to me that Vince would rag on me about this. I would have done the same to him. At least he never did it when Letty was around.

"So, whatcha wanna do tonight?" I changed the subject. At that point, birthdays were just one more excuse for us to drink. As if we really needed excuses.

"Get wasted and be seventeen," he replied.

"Alright, I'm down with that. My pops is at a race this weekend so you can bring some people over to my house," I offered. This weekend was my Dad's ninth or tenth race since he'd entered the pro stock-car circuit. He was on the East coast. Mia and I had the house to ourselves.

"Word," he said as Letty walked up. "Hey Letty you want to come to a party?" He was giving me a knowing grin the whole time. I just thought about how I was never going to tell Vince anything ever again. If he said anything, I swear to God…

"Um, sure," she responded looking between the two of us oddly. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, thank you. Party's at Dom's. You should be able to find it okay," he said, giving her a hug.

"I think I can manage," she replied walking over to the passenger door of my car.

We got into the car. As soon as I cranked the engine the music started blaring. I decided that if the music played we would have a distraction and then I couldn't push her for more information about that guy. Besides, she would think it was weird that I was so curious. And, I didn't want to let on about my feelings. The possibility of being rejected was imminent and I had never really had to deal with that before. Regardless, I didn't think I'd handle it well. So, I just let he music play. We drove to Mia's school and sat in the parking lot. I cut the music down a little bit because other anxiously awaiting parents were starting to stare.

"You miss it here," I joked. It was odd that they'd picked that year to switch the schools over. But, I thought it was cool. I liked having Letty around. Of course, after seeing her with that other guy, I loved it a little less.

" Wasn't really here that much. Well, that long I mean," she corrected.

"I think you had it right the first time," I remarked. She never went to school. At least when she road with me I knew when she was going and when she wasn't. But, then, I wasn't really the best attendance example for her because there would be days when Vince, Zack, Hector, and I, and now Letty, would just skip and hang out at Hector's house or find other useless activities to engage in.

"Yeah, hilarious," she said unamused.

"It is what it is," I remarked.

"So, are you going to let Mia come to the party?" she asked, ignoring my previous statement.

"Hadn't planned on it," I replied.

"You're such a dick," she laughed.

"What? She's too young," I said in my protective brotherly voice.

"Okay, whatever. Have fun telling her that," she said as Mia ran towards the car.

"Oh, she wouldn't even want to," I replied. Mia really wasn't much into parties.

Letty got out of the car and pulled the seat forward so Mia could get into the back. She started talking about school and all the exciting things that were happening. I mainly let Letty respond to her. She was a lot better at that. I cared about Mia and how she was doing in school. But, it definitely wasn't something we had in common. I always felt very proud of her though.

"Are you going to your house or ours?" I asked Letty as I pulled onto our street. I didn't really know why I'd asked. It had been forever since she'd even stepped foot inside her house.

She looked over at her house as we drove by. There were some random cars parked out front. "Yours," she responded.

I pulled up in the driveway and let the girls out.

"Where are you going?" Mia asked when she noticed I wasn't getting out.

"I got to go pick some stuff up at the store. Vince is bringing some people by for his birthday," I said. It was easiest to tell Mia things when I had a quick getaway.

"Dom, you didn't even ask me if it was okay," Mia whined.

"Do you mind? We'll be downstairs," I told her. This was the best way of indirectly telling her that I didn't expect her to come.

"No, that's fine," she begrudgingly said.

"Cool, thanks Mi, you're the best," I said as I pulled away. Hopefully she got the point.

At just barely seventeen, there were very few places that I knew where I could buy beer. Something about my haughtiness caused me to refuse a fake id. There was one gas station in particular where the cashier had gone to my high school. He was older than me but had always been pretty good friends with Zack. He frequented the weekend street races and respected the work that my Dad and I did on cars. I don't exactly know how it started, but every time I tried to buy beer from him, he let me without any questions asked.

I rolled up to the store. I assumed that I would need quite a bit for anyone that Vince was planning on inviting. I loaded up the cart with an assortment, but mostly Coronas.

"You partying tonight?" the guy behind the counter asked. No, I typically just buy this many cases for myself.

"Sort of, it's my boy Vince's birthday, so, you know?" I said.

"So, you not going to be hittin' the streets tonight?" he asked.

"Nah, don't think I'll be in any condition to drive tonight," I replied.

"That's cool, maybe I'll race then knowing I don't have to go up against your ass," he said as I handed him the money.  
"Alright, man, good luck," I told him, taking all the beer and walking out of the store.

I got back to the house. I put all the beers in the refrigerator in the basement and sat on the couch. I turned on the television. I figured I would just stay down here until people came. It was Friday. It wasn't like I had anything else to do. The garage was closed and I certainly wasn't going to do any homework.

The door to the basement opened and Zack walked in. He was with another guy who was a lot younger. The young guy looked very nervous for some reason.

"What's up, man," Zack said, coming up and sitting on the couch. He had a little cooler with him. It was pretty funny.

"What's goin' on," I replied.

"This is my cousin, Jesse. He's the one that I was telling you about, that's working on those computer programs," Zack informed, pointing to the kid.

"Nice to meet you," I said, reaching out my hand. He nervously shook it and sat down on one of the chairs. "Yeah, I heard about your stuff. That sounds pretty cool."

"Th-thanks, man," he replied.

"Well we're partying here in just a little while. There's beer in the fridge if you want to go ahead and get started," I told them.

"Oh I brought my own. Wish we could stick around for the party. I talked to Vince a little bit ago. But, man, we got to go to a god damn family reunion," Zack complained. "I'm trying to delay the torture for as long as I can. Where's Letty?"

I shrugged. Why did he care?

He opened his little cooler and had a beer. He offered Jesse and I one. Jesse declined. I went over to the fridge and grabbed one of my own. I didn't know how old Jesse was, but he looked younger than Mia. Zack and I shot the breeze for a little while and Jesse didn't say a word. He just kept fidgeting with things. I started talking to him about the program for decals that he was developing and it really sparked his interest. He spoke about it so fluently and eloquently that he seemed to transform into a different person. I liked him. He was really knowledgeable about computers and seemed to have a real passion for cars. I talked to him about getting together sometime that next week to see what we could do about my own car. He agreed. After Zack finished his third or fourth beer they had to get going. As it turned out, their reunion was in Vegas and had started a couple of hours ago.

About an hour later, after I had sunk pretty deep into a television trance, Letty came down the stairs. I didn't notice her at first, but then she sat down beside me. She was wearing a white tank top and some low cut jeans that had holes in just the right places, in my opinion. Her hair was up in a loose ponytail. She looked hot. I had to try to act casual, though. I didn't want her to notice me staring. Luckily, a few minutes later, Vince walked in with Hector, Edwin, and a couple of other people. I stood up, glad to take my focus off Letty.

"Sup, fellas," I said shaking a few hands.

"Hey man," Hector and the other guys said.

"Sup Dom, Letty," Edwin said.

"Sup Letty," one of the other guys said eyeing her.

"Beers in the fridge," I replied, trying to get his attention off my, well, off Letty.

Hector grabbed a beer and tossed Letty and I one. We all watched television and drank a few beers. A good number of other people showed up, many of which also brought beer. This only added to the collection. After a couple of hours everyone had gotten pretty drunk and seemed to be having a really good time. We turned off the television and started listening to music instead.

The girl that Vince was currently crushing on, some chick named Maria, was chatting it up with him in the corner. I could tell that he was trying to put the moves on her.

I decided the only way to take my mind of Letty would be to flirt with someone else. This was the best plan my wonderful hormone-crazed teenage brain could come up with. I found Katie, a really attractive girl that I didn't really know very well. She seemed more than willing to consume my attention. I glanced over at Letty, in between Katie trying to "accidentally" touch me or give off flirtatious laughs. The fact that somewhat inebriated girls tried to pretend like they didn't mean to touch a guy always perturbed me. Most males were more than happy to welcome this type of attention. I saw Letty talking to the same guy that she had talked to at school earlier that day. I couldn't take my eyes off them. He was making her laugh. I had no idea what they could be talking about, but I wanted them to stop.

Just then one of the other females attendees said, "hey guys, let's play truth or dare".

"Nah, really?" I asked her.

"Yeah, it'll be fun. We used to have so much fun with it back in the day. Now we can take it up a notch," she smiled.

"Oh come on, how old are we?" I asked.

"Come on, Dom, it could be fun," Katie said. She moved her hand from my cheek, down my side, to my pelvis, pulling me over to the group by my belt loops.

How could I say no to that?

"Alright, whatever," I said, sitting down. I looked over at Letty. She just laughed and shook her head at me.

"You're an embarrassment," she stated, walking over to the circle everyone was forming. That guy was trailing behind her like a puppy dog.

"Come on, Let, be a sport," I joked.

"Okay, I'll start," the random female attendee, Jessica, said.

"Truth or Dare Eva?" she said looking over at an extremely attractive Hispanic girl I knew, shall we say, personally.

"Truth," Eva replied.

"Did you ever sleep with Dom?" the girl asked, shooting me a look. I looked at the floor.

"Dare," Eva said.

"No, you said truth, you have to answer the question," the girl said.

"Yes," Eva said bashfully.

"Truth or Dare Christina?" Eva said, asking another girl I also knew personally. I looked around at all the people who were there. Geez, what had Vince done? Invite all the girls I had slept with in LA? I thought he wanted to help me with Letty. I imagined this had the potential to cause the opposite effect.

"Truth," she said.

"Same question," Eva said.

I pretty much wanted to die at this point. It wasn't like my ego did not enjoy this. But, I realized that this really was doing very little to help my future attempts with Letty. And, what the hell? Is this the kind of thing girls thought was funny? Around a group of guys, just guys, I would have been totally down with this. But, in the mixed company of the girl I was crushing on, not so much.

"Hey, listen," I interjected. "Why don't we ask a different question?"

The girl looked a little hurt. But, that was a sacrifice I was willing to make for my own plight.

"Okay, fine. Christina, did you ever sleep with Vince?" she asked, smiling.

Sarah's face got beet red. It was funny. I knew she had. I tried hard not to laugh. I was unsuccessful. It was better to transfer the conversation to him. It was his birthday after all.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Okay, Truth or Dare Letty," Christina said.

Damn, how did this happen? This would be interesting. I just hoped they didn't ask her if she'd slept with one of us.

"Truth," she said. I was very surprised she didn't go with dare. Letty always struck me as more of a dare type of person. Oh well, she keeps me guessing.

"Do you like Tony?" she asked smiling. I assumed that she was referring to the guy that was following Letty around. Apparently, at this age, Truth or Dare essentially turned into a game of embarrassment.

"I don't know. He's okay I guess," she replied. This was a very Letty answer.

"That's not an answer," she responded.

"It's my answer," Letty said.

"Alright, we will just translate that as a yes," Christina responded.

"Alright, my turn. Truth or Dare, Dom?" Letty said grinning.

That sucked. I decided to down my beer. It would make the cut sting less.

"Neither, I'm not playing," I joked. Letty could really call me out on some shit.

"Okay, then truth," she said still smiling. "If you aren't man enough to pick one yourself I'll just assign it to you."

I just shook my head. Anyone but Letty and I would have been pissed.

"Alright, let's have it," I told her. Vince passed me the bottle of tequila that he had started working on. I took the Eagles advice, took a shot of courage, and waited.

"Did you beat Tran in the race last week?" she asked. She knew how mad this had made me. This was precisely why you didn't play Truth or Dare with your close friends.

"No," I said pissed, not at Letty, just at having to admit this. I had beaten him twice. He wasn't going to give up though. He won in our third one-on-one race. I was furious about it.

"Yeah," she said conceitedly.

"My turn now," I said. This was going to be good. "Truth or Dare Vince?" I asked. He thought about this for a second.

"Truth," he replied. Pussy.

I thought hard. There wasn't really anything I didn't know about Vince. But, then I realized that there were things the other people around me didn't know. So I decided to be a dick.

"Did you ever sleep with Tran's sister?" I asked. This was a conquest he was never able to achieve. I had. It made him really angry. I knew a couple of people there, mainly guys, would really get the significance of this question. That made it funny.

He cocked his head to the side and gave me an eat-shit grin, "No."

"Truth or Dare, Dom," he said. This should be fun. No way in hell was I going to answer a truth to him. He had way too much shit on me for that.

"I just went," I said, trying to back out gracefully.

"It don't matter. It's my birthday," he replied.

"Dare," I said, awaiting my fate.

"I dare you to…," he continued to think. Vince was never extremely quick on his feet. He was sitting beside Hector and decided to whisper back and forth with him about what would be a good dare. Then he gave me a smile that indicated I was in some shit. "I dare you to make out with Letty in the closet."

"This isn't 'seven minutes in heaven' brother," I said.

"Scared?" he questioned.

Hell yeah I was getting kind of scared. I smiled. He knew how to challenge me, I'd give him that. I would never have let on that this bothered me.

"Wait, that's bullshit. What if I'm not down with that," Letty cut in.

"Don't worry. He won't have the balls to do shit," Vince reassured her. Ass.

I looked at Letty and offered her my hand. "You won't come with me?"

She hesitated. This could be really embarrassing. But, she put her hand in mine. I helped her up.

"But, this counts as a dare for me too," she added before following me into the closet. This was a stupid dare. Actually, this was a great dare. Vince knew exactly what he was doing putting me in this situation. I would have to remember to either kill him or thank him later…depending.

TBC

---

AJ

So you guys are probably going to be a little upset that I left it here. But, what's life without a little suspense, right?


	20. Chapter 20

We got into the closet. It was dark, as closets tend to be. I stood there. I didn't know how to handle the situation. I felt my palms claming up. I never had problems putting the moves on girls before. But, this was different. Letty and I had something special- I was hoping anyway. And, honestly I would have loved to take it to the next level. But, I had really received no indication from her that she felt the same way. I didn't want to ruin what we had as friends. Damn. I licked my lips and just stood there. I knew Vince was going to ask me about this incessantly afterwards.

"So, this is weird," Letty said, cutting the silence.

"Little bit," I said laughing. I was nervous.

"Whatcha want to do?" she asked.

I didn't really know how to take this question. How ambiguous could you get? Did she mean did I want to kiss? Or, did she mean how did I want to kill time before however minutes the group intended us to stay in here had passed? Girls. Why did the ones that really mattered have to be such a mystery? She had always been a mystery to me, though. It was like a rubrics cube that I couldn't solve. Regardless of how close I got, there was still always one color in the middle of a lot of solids that just threw me. I liked that about her.

"Letty…," I started. How honest did I really want to be? Did I want to tell her how I felt about her? Did I want to tell her that I had been waiting for this moment for, well, a long time? I couldn't identify the moment that I had fallen for her. Well, actually, that wasn't true. I could. I fell for her the first day of school when I was in the ninth grade. I went to her house. She had a really bad run-in with her aunt's boyfriend that day and I put my arm around her. She fit so perfectly in my arms. I knew that no other girl would fit that well. I think I hadn't fully realized this until just now. I don't even think that I'd allowed myself to realize that I actually loved her until now.

But, before I could finish, I felt her hand on my cheek. Was this really happening? I reached down and put my hands on her waist. I pulled her close to me. I could feel her body against mine. And, for the first time, it was not because she was sad or shocked. For the first time, I thought it might be because she shared the feelings that I had for her. I took my right hand and found her face in the darkness. I leaned my head down and pulled her face up to mine. Our lips met, for the first time. It was soft, gentle. We stayed connected for a few minutes. It was surreal. I could not believe that we were kissing. But, it was awesome. It wasn't like kissing all the other girls I had in the past. I really had feelings for her. I think I realized at this moment just how intense they were- everything was starting to make sense. We started kissing more intensely. I opened my mouth, tickling her lips with my tongue. I wanted to be careful not to overstep any boundaries, but I wanted to get closer to her. She opened her mouth with this invitation. I met her tongue. I had no idea how much time it had been. I saw the door start to open. I reached over and grabbed the handle, holding it shut. I didn't want to let go of this moment. I may never get another chance. I felt a pull on the other end for a few seconds. I was trying to split my focus, but it was pointless. She had me.

---

I woke up late the next morning. I was pretty hung over and had stayed up really late. I walked into the kitchen. Mia had apparently already made breakfast and cleaned the dishes. Oh well, I really wasn't hungry anyway. Instead, I felt a little nauseated. I grabbed a Gatorade out of the refrigerator and walked down into the basement. I figured I would just lie on the couch and fall back to sleep.

I made it down the stairs to find that Letty had already taken this idea.

When I saw her I thought of the kiss we shared. It hadn't continued too long after Vince tried to open the door. But, it had been real. It was the realest thing I had ever experienced. It was genuine and true. I thought about how cute she looked when we came out of the closet. She was so embarrassed. I don't think I'd ever seen her embarrassed before. I wasn't embarrassed; I was just disappointed that it had ended so soon. We had walked back over to the group and sat in our original spots. I had looked over at Vince. It had been evident that he wanted to say something. But, I glared at him so hard that he didn't dare speak a word. No one said anything. Some looked at one another. But, they continued to play. Neither Letty nor I got called on again that night. I just drank, heavily. I wanted to numb myself. I was feeling so much, so many different emotions. So, I decided to just feel drunk. I think Letty must have had the same idea because she started throwing them back quicker than I had ever seen her before. And, I would know. I couldn't take my eyes off her the rest of the evening. I tried my best. When she would look over at me, I would have to quickly look away. I could never tell if she noticed that I was staring. But, I couldn't help it. It was like she was a magnet that my eyes were drawn to.

Snapping myself back into reality, I walked over to the chair beside the couch and crashed.

"How you feeling?" she asked, not looking up.

"I'm not going to lie, I've definitely felt better," I said.

I wanted to ask her about last night. I knew that she remembered it. It was all that I was thinking about. It had been so amazing. She had to have felt something too. I mean, if she was willing to kiss me, she must have. But, she had been drinking before just like everyone else. I started to get scared. Maybe it was just the alcohol. I didn't want to ask her, but I did at the same time.

"Did you have fun last night?" she asked. Was this an open opportunity?

"Yeah, did you?" I asked. Maybe she would mention it.

"Yeah, it was fun," she replied. I guess not.

"So, um, do you want to talk about what happened last night?" I finally asked. As soon as the words came out of my mouth I wanted to take them back. When it was clear I couldn't, I wanted to crawl under the couch and die. Why was I acting so nuts? A girl had never had this effect on me. I had never thought about it this much, never scrutinized the things that I was saying so much.

"No not really, do you?" she asked, looking up at me. Well, hell. Not now I didn't. I didn't want to appear, weak? Whipped? I didn't know what the right word for was. But, yes I did want to talk about it. I was head over heels. But, that wasn't me and I wasn't going to reveal this. I wanted to be, what had Zack told me? Aloof, unaffected.

"Um, nah," I said, playing it cool. "I just didn't know if you thought it would be weird or whatever."

"Trust me Dominic, it takes a lot more than a kiss to weird me out," she said, lying back down.

Hm, I had no clue what to make of all this now. But she continued, "If you want to talk about it, I mean…"

"No, it's cool. I's just checking," I lied.

She laid her head back down and continued to watch television. This was awkward. Well, for me anyway. She acted completely collected and normal. Why was I so nuts? I wished that I could read her mind. But, it probably would have just depressed me.

TBC

---

AJ


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry for the delay guys my computer had a virtual heart attack- PC's! Guess that's what I get for doing this at work. Back on the Mac, back in business…AJ

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So instead of talking, we watched television. I heard the phone ringing upstairs. I hadn't brought a phone down to the basement yet. I didn't even think we had a phone jack down here.

"Dom, phone," Mia said, walking down the basement stairs. I walked over and met her, taking the phone from her hands.

"Thanks," I told her. She turned around and went back upstairs. "Hello."

"D-rock, what's up," Zack said from the other end. D-rock? He was clearly still drunk from the night before. Knowing Zack, I would imagine any family he had would have a kick ass reunion.

"What's up man? How was the reunion?" I asked.

"Sucked. Big time. But, you know. I got pretty wasted," he replied.

"Missed one hell of a party," I told him.

"Yeah, I heard about the shin dig. Sounded like a good time. Heard you made out with Letty?" he asked and then started laughing. Who had he been talking to? I guess it could have been any number of people. I didn't really know how to respond. Letty was sitting right there. I didn't want to talk about it casually, as if it didn't mean anything. I also wanted to avoid peaking Zack's suspicion.

"Who you been talking to?" I asked, as I quickly got up and walked up the stairs and out of the basement.

"I got my sources. So, what's up with that?" he inquired.

"Oh, I don't know, man. We were playing fucking truth-or-dare. It is what it is," I told him after I closed the door to the basement. More accurately speaking I lied to him. It was so much more than that. What the hell did that phrase even mean? There were not words to describe the way I felt about it, thought about it.

"So you ain't got anything going on there? I always thought there were some flames flying up between you and that young vixen," he said. I wondered if he actually meant this statement or if he was just trying to give me a hard time. Surely he had not really noticed. Vince had. But, Vince was different. He had been around Letty and I for years.

"Anyway," I said. I was not responding to this right now. "You hitting up the streets tonight?"

"Definitely. You coming?" he asked.

"I'll be there," I assured him.

"Well I got to ask you something," he said. He sounded serious. This was very unlike Zack.

"What's up?" I asked suspiciously.  
"So if you ain't got anything going on with Letty you wouldn't mind if I tried to hit that?" he asked.

What the hell? Where did this come from? Zack liked Letty. I was not at all okay with this. It really put me in an awkward position. I mean, we had kissed once. But, I didn't want Letty to fall for Zack. He was a senior. She was a freshman. That seemed like it had a huge possibility of killing my chances. I didn't want to tell him I liked her. He wasn't Vince. I didn't trust him like that.

"I don't know man. Give me some time to work my magic," I said. Personal translation- hell no dude back the fuck off. I wasn't exactly sure that he understood this quite like I had intended. But, I tried to maintain my composure while at the same time telling him that I did in fact have a problem with this.

"I feel ya, Dom," he replied. I didn't know what that meant. All I knew was that I needed to keep a much closer eye on Zack when he was around Letty.

"What time you heading out?" I asked, changing the subject yet again.

"Probably around nine. You racing tonight?" he asked.

"No I don't have the money right now," I said. After being beat by Tran and buying the beer for Vince's party, I had very limited cash flow. I really hoped that Tran didn't try to challenge me. "Are you?"

"I was thinking about it," he told me. Zack and I never raced against one another, not for money anyway. It was similar to how Vince and I never raced. It was pointless. You didn't officially race against your friends. Only the people you wanted to show up.

"Alright well, guess I'll see you out there," I told him.

"Peace," he said, hanging up the phone.

I felt dazed. What was going on? All of a sudden Letty was in high school and all of these guys were just coming out of the woodwork. I supposed that was not truly the case with Zack. I had introduced him to Letty- something I kind of regretted now. But, I would never have imagined that he liked her. Of course, why wouldn't he? She had always been cute and in the past couple of years had grown down right hot. Plus she was cool to hang out with, a rarity with most girls in high school. But, I didn't know the Tony guy that was following her around at Vince's party. He just appeared out of nowhere. I was not the biggest fan of this new development.

I walked back down into the basement.

"What was that all about?" Letty asked, looking up.

"Just tonight. You want to come with me to the races?" I asked. I walked up to the couch, where she was laying, and sat down on her feet. Sadly enough, this was forward as I was brave enough to be with her right now.

"Not if you don't get off my feet," she threatened. I sat up enough for her to pull them closer towards her.

"So is that a yes?" I asked her, looking over.

"Sure," she said, laying her feet across my lap.

"You just got to spread out, huh?" I asked, making fun of the fact that she could never just sit on a on a couch normally. She was always either sitting Indian style, had her legs pulled up to her side, or laying down. It was really cute. She just got so damn comfortable regardless of where we were. I loved Letty because she didn't give a shit. She possessed this air of confidence that most of the world pretended to have but could never actually attain. It wasn't cocky, it was relaxed.

"Yes," she replied matter-of-factly. "You kept me up late last night."

"Me?" I asked. She was looking right in my eyes. Was she flirting with me? Probably not.

"You heard me," she replied.

"I wish," I smiled. Shit, did I just say that? I didn't really know how she would take it. Play it cool.

"I bet you do," she smiled back. Oh hell. She had no idea.

"Damn right. Maybe tonight," I said, raising my eyebrows at her. This was fun. And yet, very truthful at the same time. This was probably the closest Letty and I had ever gotten to witty sexual banter. How sad is that?

Letty laughed, "Dom, you're full of shit."

I had no clue what that meant, which made responding quite the challenge.

"We'll see. You might be singing a different tune later on," I said. She kicked my shoulder with her foot. I reached up and grabbed her foot before she could put it back down. "Play nice."

"I heard you play dirty," she said. Nice! However, it was too early for this. I was still hungover and wasn't really on my A-game. But I was loving it.

I just shot her a smile and said, "Sometimes it's good to get a little dirty."

"Get a little grease under your fingernails?" she asked, perking up her eyebrows and smiling.

"Something like that," I said suggestively.

"Guess we'll see," she laughed.

"We will indeed," I told her. Maybe I should try something tonight. Or maybe she was just joking. Was it worth a shot? I looked up at the television. What the hell was this she was watching? I hadn't even really noticed the television until now. I had been focusing on more important things. "What are you watching?"

"Shut up," she replied holding tight to the remote.

"No, you can do better than this," I suggested.

"I'm not changing it," she stated.

"Alright Mia," I joked. Mia would never change the channel to accommodate anyone else in the room either. Clearly, she had been spending far too much time around my sister.

"Fuck you," Letty said, knowing I did not mean this as a compliment.

"Letty, seriously though," I said with only a small degree of seriousness behind it.

"Dom, seriously though," she mocked.

I reached over to grab the remote out of her hands. She put both hands on it and buried it under her left side. Clearly it only left one option- to go in after it.

I leaned over, somewhat on top of her, to reach for the remote. She started laughing at my unsuccessful attempt. I continued to reach for it, despite her laughter. It was on now!

"You're not going to get it. I don't care how hard you try," she laughed.

"That's what you think," I told her, trying to act serious but really I was just enjoying this. I could care less about the remote at this point.

I continued to reach for it, using both hands to reach behind her, slightly lifting her back up off the couch. She had quite the grip on it, though. But, to be honest, I had somewhat stopped trying for the remote and was mainly just trying to touch her.

Instead, I took the most logical approach, and started tickling her. I had known Letty long enough and well enough to know that she was really only ticklish on her sides. As soon as I started tickling her, naturally, she started laughing. She somewhat dropped the remote but instead of reaching for it I just focused on my task.

"Alright, alright," she said through spurts of hard laughter.

"Alright what?" I asked still tickling.

"Fuck you, just take it," she said. I stopped tickling, realizing at this point that I was essentially laying beside her on the couch. I looked at her, into her eyes. They were deep. I felt like I could get completely lost in them. It was as if they could see right through me, past all my bullshit. She was the only person that looked at me and didn't see all the crazy shit I had pulled the past few years. She saw me as someone much better than that. Her eyes dug deeply into me. Time completely stood still. Everything else that was happening just stopped. Everything got very quiet. Our eyes were connected. I couldn't think. My mind was blank. Without a second thought, I leaned towards her. I don't know if she leaned towards me also or just froze.

We kissed. It was better than the first. I would have actually been able to see her if I could have opened my eyes. Her lips were so soft. I put my hand up to her cheek to pull her closer to me. Our lips stayed connected. I opened up my mouth slightly, kissing mainly her top lip, stroking it gently with my tongue. She took this as an open invitation and slipped her tongue into my mouth. It started out light, tender, but grew more passionate. I took my free hand and wrapped it around her back. I pulled her body close to mine. Damn, she was amazing. That was the only thing my incoherent mind could think. Amazing. Her lips felt amazing. Her tongue felt amazing. She wrapped her arms around me. She was a great kisser. I gently sucked on her bottom lip before meeting her tongue again. And then, without warning, she rolled over on top of me.

I moved my hand from her cheek to behind her head. Her hair was so soft. My other hand remained on the small of her back. I wanted to reach up the bottom of her shirt but I didn't want to press my luck. This was going so well and I didn't want it to end. But, damn, the things I wanted to do to her. Her body felt incredible on top of mine. She was light and warm. Her hands snaked around my back. I could feel her nails ever so slightly but still a very present force pressing through my shirt.

I was so happy. I was exactly where I wanted to be. I couldn't think of anyone else in the world I would rather kiss…ever again. She was everything. She started kissing my neck. Her mouth found its way to a spot about half way between my collar bone and my ear. I felt her tongue smooth and warm on my neck. Her teeth grazing the skin just slightly but with enough force to drive me crazy.

"God Letty," I moaned as she continued to work at that spot. I could feel myself becoming so aroused. So, I guess she liked me? She was definitely not drunk right now. I was almost certain of that.

With that I decided to take a chance. I gently reached my hand up the bottom of her shirt. I felt her back. It was so soft, flawless. I felt her bra strap. Did I dare? No, not yet. I wanted to take things slow with Letty. She meant too much to rush anything. It felt good just to feel her, have her, hold her against me.

When she moved her mouth back up to mine I decided that two could play the neck game. I gently lifted her chin up and outlined her right ear with the tip of my tongue, spending a little more time focusing on her earlobe. I moved down to the tender area just below her ear by her jaw line, and worked my way down lower. I heard her let out a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a moan, but it sounded like a positive thing so I continued.

"Man brother, you won't believe some shit," Vince said, walking in the side door.

It took me a minute to realize what was going on. I felt Letty start to scramble a bit and pull her shirt down from where it had inched its way up.

"Oh fuck, my bad," Vince said and turned and walked back out the door. I could hear him somewhat start to laugh on his way out.

"Thanks a lot V," I called out as Letty sat up. I was pretty pissed. So far, Vince had been the exact opposite of helpful. Up to this point I would pretty much describe him as the main hindrance for me getting closer to Letty.

Letty sat up, looking slightly embarrassed. I stayed where I was, just looking at her. She looked down at me and we both started laughing. I am not sure what exactly was funny. But, I was just really happy at what had happened- minus Vince. I was still a little confused, but this had definitely help to clear up some things.

"Come here," I said, reaching up for her cheek. I leaned up slightly and led her lips down to meet mine. Our kiss was not deep, but sweet. It helped normalize the situation, as much as possible given the circumstances. I just didn't want things to be awkward any longer. I was tired of these games I had created in my head and wanted to get things out in the open.

She laid down beside me on the couch. I wrapped my arms around her. She still fit, maybe better than she did that day so many years ago. I felt down on the ground, found the remote, and changed the channel. She looked over at me giving me an annoyed look. I knew she didn't really care though. We spent the rest of the afternoon like that. It was unbelievable. I made a mental note to get some locks for the basement doors- or to at least start using the ones that were already in place.

A few hours later, Letty and I emerged for dinner. We ate and she spent the evening showering and hanging out with Mia. Vince came back over. This time, he knocked before he came in.

"Thanks for knocking," I told him as he came into the basement.

"My fault, Dom," he said remorsefully.

"It's cool," I replied, attempting to ease his suffering.

"So are you guys like hooking up now?" he asked.

"Nah, people keep opening the door on us," I glared at him.

"I left," he said defensively.

"I'm just messing with you. No, though. We really haven't done anything," I admitted. I felt a little weird talking to Vince about it. I did not think Letty would probably want me to. I wonder if she was talking to Mia. I doubted it.

"Are you two like together or whatever?" he asked.  
"I have no idea," I said. And I didn't. Despite what had happened earlier today I still didn't know if that meant we were anything. I fucking hated labels. None of them ever seemed to fit.

"Well from what I saw, I'd say she probably likes you, bro," he remarked.

"Yeah?" I asked. I didn't want to think it was something and it turn out to be nothing.

"Yeah man she was fucking all over you," he stated.

"Not really. You kind of walked in on the tail end of it," I said.

"I think she likes you, man," he said, again.

"Guess we'll see," I replied.

"Why? What are you going to do?" he asked extremely interested.

"Oh, I don't know," I said. I really had no plan. I had loved the way things worked out today. I didn't really want to sit down and have a discussion with her about it. Maybe I would see if she brought it up. Yeah, Letty bring up a conversation about something really serious. I wouldn't hold my breath.

"Take her to the race with you tonight," Vince suggested.

"I already ask her," I told him.

"Damn, boy, you got it bad," he mocked.

"Fuck you," I said. He was so right. "Did you know that Zack liked Letty?"

"Yeah, I figured he did," Vince said as if this was common knowledge.

"You knew?" I was shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It don't matter, bro. She don't like him like that," he reassured me.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because I asked her," he told me.

"What? When? How long have you known he liked her?" I could not believe this. This was like some parallel universe. How had I not realized this? I guess, until recently, I had told myself that Letty was too young to like. If she was too young for me to like, she was too young for anyone else to like. Apparently, I was completely full of shit. Awesome.

"Well he talks about her all the time. He's always asking about her and trying to hang out with her. How did you not know?" he asked surprised.

"Apparently I'm just…fucking…retarded. I don't know," I said. I was trying to get a handle on things. "So you asked her about it?"

"Yeah, I guess like right after school started. Just one day. I was curious. I knew you had it bad for her and I was just trying to help you out," he said. He seemed really sincere.

"Well let me tell you brother, you haven't been a lot of help these past couple of days," I joked.

"But, man, I was running defense for you and you didn't even know. You got to like that, huh?"

"Yeah V, thanks," I said. I guess I appreciated it. But he didn't tell me about it so it's hard to appreciate things you are completely unaware of.

After that I changed the subject. I couldn't hear anything else about this. I had been so oblivious to everything. It kind of pissed me off. I needed to chill out. I was getting pretty mad at Zack. I guess he hadn't known that I liked Letty but he shouldn't like her.

A couple of hours later Vince and I were ready to go to the races.

"Letty, you coming or not?" I called up. I hadn't seen her since dinner but I hoped she was still going to come with me.

"Chill the fuck out. I'll be right there," she called down the stairs.

I sipped my Corona with Vince and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, acting like you're annoyed with your woman," Vince laughed.

"Don't make me hurt you," I said calmly. Vince just smiled. I contemplated hitting him in the jaw but didn't want to have to explain it to Letty.

A few minutes later she strutted down the stairs. She was wearing a short, tight skirt and some tube top thing. She looked beautiful. Her hair was long and flowing down her back.

"About time," I said, trying to act annoyed.

Letty didn't respond. She sighed at me and kept walking.

"Alright, meet you there?" I asked Vince as he reached for his keys.

"See you in a few," he said opening the door and walking out.

Letty stood there, presumably waiting for me to grab my keys and walk out the door. I couldn't stop staring. This could be hazardous to my health. She sat up on the counter and just stared at me like I was an idiot.

"So…?" she asked.

"You look awesome," I said, my eyes glued to her.

She laughed, rolled her eyes, and jumped off the counter. She walked towards the door. I reached my hand out, gently touching her forearm. My hand slid down her arm until it met her hand before she could reach for the doorknob. When my hand was in hers she looked up at me perplexed. I pulled her by the hand up towards me. I looked down at her. It was about time I do something about the way I felt. Apparently, I was about to miss my opportunity and then I would never forgive myself. She was the only person who saw me for who I wanted to be, not who I was. She was the only person that I could talk to. She was the only person I was willing to tell corny jokes around. She was the only person that I couldn't stop thinking about at night before I went to sleep and looked forward to seeing first thing when I woke up. She was the only person I knew that had always been genuine.

I pulled her towards me and put both of my hands on her cheeks. I looked into her eyes. It was now or never…

TBC

---

AJ


	22. Chapter 22

I decided now was the better of the two options. I leaned down and kissed her. She was surprised. I could tell, because at first she gave no reaction. She didn't pull away; she was just sort of standing there. But then, she kissed me back. I stood there, completely engrossed in what was happening. One of my hands slipped from her cheek to the back of her head. Her hair was so soft. I had no idea how long we were kissing because it seemed as though time did not exist when we were together. I felt her tongue caress the ridges on the roof of my mouth. It tickled. She pulled away and bit the left side of her bottom lip. She smiled at me, turned around, and walked out the door. Not a bad way to start out the evening I didn't think. I stood there a second, just smiling, before I grabbed my keys and followed her out to my car. I liked what was happening today.

We didn't say anything on the way to the races. I was practically floating, though. I still had to play it cool. Letty had not become a regular to the races yet, not like Vince and I were. But, she had gone quite a bit. I did not imagine that it would be a huge surprise to anyone that I showed up with her. When she did go, she arrived with Vince or me. I felt like I looked different. I didn't know if the rest of the world could see how I was feeling. I would say it was probably the closest I had ever come to feeling giddy. But I wanted to conceal that. It was extremely important that I uphold my stoic image at the races. I didn't think giddy would go over well with this crowd. I learned early on that it was better to show no emotion than too many.

The group that frequented the races each weekend, which was growing larger and larger, switched spots every so often. But, a favorite racing spot was a strip by some abandoned warehouses. We pulled up to large group of people. They were blaring music and partying, waiting for things to get started. Hector's older cousin, Emilio, was orchestrating the races at this point.

I parked beside Vince, who was leaning up next to his car talking to Edwin.

Letty and I got out of the car. I scanned the crowd to see who all was there. I saw Hector, his cousin Emilio, and a couple of their friends. I saw some girls I knew that I really hoped didn't come up to me right now. I saw Zack. He was with his younger cousin that I had met yesterday. When he saw me, they walked over.

"What's up?" Zack said, throwing out a handshake.

"Zack. Didn't stay in Vegas long," I told him. I wasn't exactly thrilled to see him. But, he'd told me that he was going to be here.

"Yeah, well, didn't want to get too comfortable with the family," he replied. Strange reply to this statement but whatever.

"Hey, Jesse, right?" I asked, looking over and shaking the young kid's hand. He looked nervous as hell. Maybe this was his first time on the scene.

"What's up Dominic, man," he said, extending his hand to mine.

"You still coming by this week?" I asked him. I definitely wanted to get together with him to talk about decals for my car.

"Huh, oh definitely," he replied.  
"Edwin, Vince, this is Jesse," I said, introducing to the two guys to the really scared looking kid.

"Heard what you been doing with a computer. That's some pretty sweet shit," Vince told him.

Jesse nodded. He was looking around. I didn't really think he was paying attention. But, it didn't matter. There was something about this kid that I enjoyed. I couldn't put my finger on it. Vince looked a little confused by the whole interaction but just brushed it off and continued talking to Edwin.

I noticed that during the short time Vince and I were talking to Jesse, Zack had started talking to Letty. She was standing against my car. He was in front of her. They were just off to the side but I couldn't really hear what they were saying. God knows I tried.

Vince looked over at me. He looked at Zack and then back at me. He scrunched his eyebrows. I looked away from him. Shit. I didn't want to talk about it. I knew Vince was confused, but, hell, so was I. Ever since the conversation that I had with Zack earlier that day, I had a very uneasy feeling about the whole situation surrounding him and Letty. It was unsettling to me that I had been completely oblivious to the fact he liked her. And, now, I felt like there was something else that I didn't know.

I tried to avert my attention away from Zack and Letty. Of course, it was not working. I noticed that he would talk to her and then glance up at me, then look back at her. I was confused by this whole move. He was edging closer and closer to her. I was trying really hard not to stare. But, I was.

"Dom!" Vince yelled. I had a feeling, by his tone, that it was not the first time he called me.

"Hm?" I said, falling out of my daze and looking over at him.

He motioned his head for me to come over. Edwin had left at some point and I hadn't even noticed. I walked up to Vince.

"What are you doing?" he asked me quietly.

"Hanging out," I said, trying to be casual.

"Alright," he said in disbelief. "It looked like you were about to flip your shit."

I just shook my head no. Was I? I didn't think so.

"So…what's going on with that?" he asked, motioning to Zack and Letty. Hell this was new to me. I guess it wasn't weird that they were talking. But, it was making me very uncomfortable for some reason. I wouldn't have been quite so upset normally but Zack was acting sketchy.

"Don't know," I shrugged, trying to pretend like I didn't care. Vince, of course, could see right through this act.

"Don't worry about it," he assured. "She don't like him."

"Don't look that way to me," I said under my breath, but apparently audible enough for Vince to hear.

"Brother, have I ever steered you wrong before?" he asked.

So many images ran through my head as I replied, "yes."

"Alright, that's probably true," he agreed. "But I ain't now. Let it go. Keep you're cool. You ain't even had the balls to talk to her about it yet. So, I'd hold off on running the interference right now."

I nodded my head. He was right. I wasn't going to say anything to them. I just wished that Zack would stop looking at me. It made me kind of wanted to just kill him but I would, apparently, have to refrain. They were just talking. It was probably just me that was adding more to the situation. I took a deep breath, relaxed, and leaned back next to Vince's car. We started shooting the breeze about the random people that were present, the cars they were driving, and the girls we would consider getting with.

"Toretto!" I heard a familiar voice call from behind me. Fuck. I did not want to deal with this drama right now.

"Toretto!" Johnny Tran called out again, unnecessarily loudly. "Want a chance to get your title back?" Damn. I knew something like this would happen. I turned around slowly.

"Would love one. I ain't got any cash, though," I admitted. Damn. I wanted to just punch him. What was with me tonight? Apparently everything that could piss me off was happening, and within about a fifteen minute span. That had to be some kind of really unfortunate record.

"That's okay. I'll race you for slips," he smiled. Oh shit. That sucks.

"What you driving?" I asked.

"The red 240sx over there," he pointed. This was the first time he'd brought this out on the streets. I liked it.

At this point, a lot of people started gathering around to watch. This, of course, just added to the intensity of the offer he had made me. They were all watching the dealings between Johnny and I. I have no idea how, amongst all the noise and insanity that was occurring at the races, they were able to pick up on this. But, the tension between Johnny's group and my own was absolutely no secret to anyone. And the issues that Johnny and I had with each other were pretty obvious. Everyone was watching, at least it felt like everyone was. I couldn't back down. I literally had no option. I had to do it. And, I had to win.

"Let's go," I told him pointing to the line. I started walking over to my car. I opened the glove box and got out the pink slip. My mind essentially went black at this point. It's a good thing. Otherwise I probably would have run away. I saw Vince walking up to me.

"What are you doing now?" he asked, concerned.

"I got this," I told him.

"Dom, you can't do this. If you lose that car…," Letty started, running up. I was surprised she'd been able to pull herself away from her engaging conversation with Zack to notice what was going on.

I ignored them both. They were right. If I lost the car I would be in some major shit. But, I couldn't think that way. I was going to do it. Unlike Tran, who apparently didn't care about his reputation that much, mine meant everything to me right now. I had a feeling that this move would have the potential to really help move me forward, or break me completely. So, I just had to make sure that the latter didn't happen. I could hear people around starting to talk about what was happening, but I tried to tune out everything.

"You sure about this?" Hector asked as I handed him the pink slip for my car. I nodded my head. I couldn't talk. Was I sure? Hell no. This was a terrible idea. But, I had to do it. We had butted heads for long enough. It was time that I prove to him who the better driver was, who had the better car. I had no idea what his Nissan had under the hood. But, I had faith in my car. I'd made some major modifications since the last time we'd raced. If I lost, that would be it. But, if he lost, he'd finally realize that our crew was better than his. And there was no way I could back down to him. I couldn't show that type of weakness. Not here, not now.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I did not want to do this. I got into my car and drove it up to the line. I met Tran. He looked over and smiled. He was so damn cocky. I kept my face flat and tried to focus. I knew where the line was. I just had to get there first.

Some random girl that Hector was seeing walked up to the line as Hector and his cousin made their way to the end line. At the sound of "go" I floored it. I didn't even look over at him. I could see him out of the corner of my eye. We were neck and neck. I was furious. I kicked it into the next gear, then the next, and the next. So did he. I saw the line. I literally gave it everything I had as I crossed the line. I didn't know who had won. It was close. Hector and Emilio had both been watching and I knew they had seen who won. I slowed it down and turned back around. I didn't want to look at Tran. If I had lost I would probably have to either kill him or myself and I was a much bigger fan of myself.

I pulled back up to the crowd and Hector approached my car. I got out and he slapped my hand, handing me two pink slips. Hell yeah! I had just won a fucking car. That was awesome! I was in a state of shock for a few moments. But, I snapped myself out of it and looked over at Tran. He looked pissed, beyond pissed. I really couldn't blame him but I also couldn't keep the grin off my face.

"Teach you to race the king," I walked up to him. He threw the keys at me. I caught them in midair. I perked my eyebrows up at him and he skulked off. Wow, that had worked out a lot better than I thought it might have. I would have hated to be in Tran's shoes right now. How disgraceful. Hoards of people ran up to me, most of which I didn't know. They offered their congratulations; some of the girls offered other things. But, I wasn't really listening to any of them. I was too busy just being happy. That was easily the coolest thing I'd ever done, and the fact that it was Tran made it 10 times better.

"Yes, Dom, that's what I'm talking about," Vince said, running over and giving me a hug. I was pretty elated. I had two cars. I didn't even really know what to do with two cars. But I was sure that I would figure something out.

"Told you I got this," I joked with him. Initially, I had not been so sure. But, now that I'd won, I could be as cocky as I wanted to. "He don't know how to race!"

"That was awesome," Letty said, walking up from behind me and giving me a hug. I wanted to give her a kiss. But, there were too many people around. I felt weird. I was almost drunk off of the victory and really wanted to do it. I could picture it in my head. She stood there, smiling, looking up at me. I felt like she was giving me an opening.

"It was wasn't it?" I asked her, smiling back. I was about to do it. I felt shockingly nervous. But, then, something stopped me.

"Way to go man," Zack said patting me on the back. I felt as though I jumped slightly. I had been so intensely focused in the Letty-zone. I realized what was going on and pulled out of it. But, I didn't want to talk to Zack so I brushed him off and avoided looking at him at all.

"What's he running under there?" Jesse asked, walking past me towards the 240. A group of people followed him to inspect my new prize.

"Check it out," I called out to him. Letty and Vince followed him up to the car. I avoided looking or speaking to Zack. I just didn't want to deal with him right now. I was really happy and I knew he was about to pull me down.

"Sup?" he asked. Was he really that dumb or was he just trying to pretend to be?

I gave him a sarcastic half-laugh, looked over in his general direction, and then looked away again. I started walking away from him, towards Vince, Letty, and my new car. He grabbed my arm. It took all of my self-control not to reach back and punch him. I turned around and looked at his hand holding my arm.

"Don't touch me," I said, pulling my arm out of his grasp.

"Dom, don't walk away from me like that. What's up?" he asked, letting go but still not letting up.

"What you trying to pull with Letty?" I asked, walking back up to him so that I wouldn't have to talk loudly.

He smiled and said, "I don't know. She's hot, man. Guess we'll see." I was astounded by this statement.

"Don't do it, Z," I told him.

"Oh, you telling me what to do now?" he asked, cocking an attitude.

"What's that supposed to mean? We talked about this like four hours ago," I said. I knew he hadn't forgotten. He had even admitted to me that he had thought I'd liked her for a long time. I couldn't imagine how that conversation and the interaction I saw between the two of them could possibly have take place in the same day.

"Something you gotta learn, I don't listen to nobody," he said, almost as a warning.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked. He was beginning to show a side that I had never seen before, at least not towards me.

"You're the one that's got the problem. Dom, you walk around thinking you run shit. You think you got the streets, think you can have any girl you want. News flash, that ain't the case. You can't have her. Day late, dollar short. I made you, Dom, and ain't no way you're beating me at my own game," he said. This was ridiculous.

I definitely wanted to punch him now. I was trying to keep this conversation quiet. I didn't want a crowd to gather. I definitely didn't want Letty to come over and hear what this was all about. "Made me? Nah, I made myself. Don't get pissed that I'm better at it than you," I said. Two could play the attitude game. And, he knew that if we ever actually took it to the pavement I would dominate him.

"You're a fucking amateur. You never going to be able to run this game like I can," he said, shaking his head.

"You don't run shit, Zack. I left you behind months ago," I informed him. He and I hadn't even really hung out that much recently. He would stop by my house from time to time but Zack and I were not nearly as close as we were when I started high school.

"I'm about to be running Letty," he smiled.

"This don't even really sound like it's about her. Sounds like it's about you and me," I said, attempting to change the subject. I didn't want to hear him talking about Letty in even a quasi sexual way. That would definitely push me over the edge- and I knew that he knew it, too.

"Maybe it is," he said stepping up to me.

"Get out of my face," I told him calmly.

"You ain't going to do shit," he laughed. "Like you ain't never done shit with Letty. You should too. It's good. Maybe I'll give Mia a go next."

At that point all self-control flew out the window. Without even consciously thinking, I reached back and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. A race had recently started so the vast majority of attendees were focusing elsewhere. It was a good thing. I didn't want anyone else to get involved. This wasn't between anyone but Zack and I, and it needed to happen. No one needed to step in or break it up. It had been building for a while and now it felt amazing to release it all. I had not really realized that Zack was such an asshole till now. Or maybe I had and just chose not to accept it. Either way, this was happening.

Zack wasn't a bad fighter, I was just stronger. That is a really beneficial advantage in a fight. After he was on the ground I got a few more good punches in before he even started to swing back. When he did, he got me right in the jaw and the surrounding areas, a couple of times. With all the adrenaline that was flying through my body, though, it barely made me flinch. It was easy to say that at that point in my life the biggest adrenaline rushes for me were racing cars, having sex, and fighting someone I really didn't like. I had just raced a car, so maybe sex would follow the fight…

I felt someone start to pull me back, off of Zack. I didn't look back to see who it was, just fought against them as I got another couple of good blows in before I was back on my feet. I turned around to see Vince. He was calling out some things that I couldn't really hear and pulling me back. Zack was still on the ground. He touched the side of his eye, an area that had received quite a bit of attention from my fist, and wiped the blood from his nose.

"Stop, Dom!" Vince yelled, still pulling me back. He was pulling me away from Zack, away from the crowd, away from the races. He held on to me as we made our way down one of the side streets. Vince knew me well enough to know that if he didn't I would go back and continue where I had left off with Zack. I was still extremely mad, not at Vince, at what had just happened between Zack and I.

"Fucking asshole!" I yelled as I punched the side of a wall. That actually really hurt. The adrenaline rush had been quickly wearing off and by the time my fist made contact with the brick wall, I could feel everything. I was too mad to care, though.

"What was that all about?" he asked again, not acknowledging my brilliant move.

"He just kept pushing. I couldn't take it no more. He got up in my face. He was talking shit," I explained. I knew these were really just small pieces, but I couldn't think coherently enough to tell a whole story.

"About what?" he asked, slowing down his pace.

"Me, Letty, shit, I don't know," I said.

"That's what this is about," he stated.

I shook my head no and said, "It went a lot deeper than that."

"Yeah, I kind of saw it coming," he admitted.

"Really though?" I asked in a state of shock. I believed him but it was just weird. "So, you knew about Zack and Letty. You saw this coming. You need to start sharing these things. We need to work on our communication, brother."

I was pretty worked up. How did he see this coming? Where had I been the past couple of months?

"I'll see what I can do," he joked. I was glad the mood was lighter. I was starting to calm down a bit.

"Dude what the fuck's wrong with me?" I asked, sitting down on the steps of an abandoned store. "Why'm I so nuts?"

"Cause you never really liked anyone before," he said. "And you're not used to having to work for it at all."

"I feel like I'm going crazy," I said, laying my head in my hands and rubbing my neck.

"Letty's kind of a crazy girl. I think you'd have to go crazy to like her as much as you do," he said.

"Thanks," I said. That made me start to think, When did Vince become mature and insightful?

"Besides, she's hot. You should just try to sleep with her. If she'll sleep with you, you know she likes you. Then you won't have to wonder anymore. It's really all you can do," he said, completely serious.

I would not qualify this as good, solid advice. I just laughed and shook my head at him. He hadn't changed. Thank God. I needed some normalcy.

"Alright, let's get back," I said after a few more minutes. I stood up and we walked back towards the crowds.

We entered back into the chaotic mix of loud music, people, and fast cars. I didn't see Zack anywhere. But, I did see Letty. She was talking to Jesse and some guy that I had never met before.

We walked up to them and Letty looked at me funny. I guess it was pretty clear by my general appearance that I had just gotten into a fight. She didn't say anything about it though- luckily.

"Dom, Vince, this is Jesse's friend Leon," she introduced me to a fairly built guy that appeared to be somewhat younger than Vince and I.

"What's up?" I asked him, shaking his hand. I licked my lips. I felt a cut and blood on it. I causally took my hand and tried to wipe it off, if that can be done casually.

"You look familiar," Letty said to Leon.

"Yeah, I should. We have two classes together. But, you're never there," he joked. I could tell by the look in Letty's face that she didn't think this was very funny. She liked to joke about never being in school but she didn't like to be called out on it.

"I go!" she said, loudly.

"Oh okay. No, that wasn't what I meant. Just like, well last week, you weren't there last week," he said, holding up his hands in defense. Poor kid. Pissing off Letty was never a wise move and I didn't think this statement had done much to placate the situation.

"I was there Friday," she insisted. Friday? I saw her Friday. But, I knew that I had taken her to school Tuesday, Wednesday, and most of Thursday because we ended up coming late and leaving early. But, she had not mentioned anything to me about not actually staying after we got there. She didn't have a car so I couldn't imagine where she had been going. This was interesting yet disturbing information.

"Oh, well I wasn't," he said.

"Alright then," she said, as if she'd won.

"Cops!" someone in the distance yelled. With that word, the entire crowd began to scatter.

"Shit," I said. I needed someone to drive my new car. "Leon, do you have a license."

"Yeah," he said, confused and anxious about the cops.

"Here," I said, tossing him the keys to the Nissan. I pointed over to where the Nissan was still parked. "Drive it to my house, okay?"

"Sweet," he said.

"Follow me," I said. "Come on."

I broke my way through the crowd. I grabbed Letty's hand, so as not to lose her in the mix of people scrambling to get away. We made our way over to my car. Jesse and Leon got in the Nissan and Vince trailed off towards his car. With a quickness, we started the engines and floored it out of there. I checked my rearview to make sure Leon was behind me. Sure enough, I saw him following. I couldn't believe I just let some kid I barely knew drive my new car. I guess it was an impulse decision. If he wrecked I would have to wreck him.

"Where were you last week?" I asked Letty after we made it past all the cop cars and the sirens began to fade into the background.

"When?" she asked, looking over at me.

"When I took you to school but apparently you didn't stay," I explained further.

"Why?" she asked, smiling.

"Cause that's weird. You didn't mention not having stayed at school when we went home," I told her.

"Dom, I don't know everything that you do and trust me I'm okay with that. But, you can't expect to know everything that I do either," she said, taking her shoes off and pulling her legs up next to her in the seat.

"Clearly," I said, staring at the road ahead of me.

"What was that all about with Zack?" Letty asked as we were driving down some side streets.

I didn't respond. I didn't know how much she had seen and I didn't really want to enlighten her any further.

"Oh, look who doesn't want to talk now," she joked. I wasn't in the mood. I was a little pissed about her hiding her daily antics from me.

After a few minutes of complete silence had passed she finally said, "What's wrong with you?"

"Why won't you tell me where you been?" I insisted.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"If you have to ask, it don't matter," I told her. Why did I care? How could she ask me that? Maybe Letty was just as oblivious to the world as I apparently was. But, I didn't think so. Letty was hiding something.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said. I pulled up in the driveway.

Then she started laughing, "what did you do to your hand?"

I just shot her a look. If she wasn't going to tell me anything I sure as hell wasn't going to give her any details about my life. I opened my car door and stepped out. Leon pulled in behind me. Vince hadn't made it back yet but I figured he wasn't too far behind. This night had definitely been a rollercoaster. But, I was anxious to get to the bottom of this situation with Letty- all the situations I had with Letty.

TBC

---

AJ


	23. Chapter 23

Leon got out of the car and tossed me the keys. It appeared that he had not done any visible damage to the car. So, I decided that I was alright with him. Granted, tonight was not the best night for people to be introducing themselves to me as potential friends. I had just lost one, a good one, and I wasn't really keen on the idea of trusting anyone else right now. I felt a huge amount of betrayal.

Letty got out of the car and went directly inside the house. I watched her walk away. I didn't follow. I stood outside, waiting for Vince. I was starting to get nervous when he didn't show up after a couple of minutes. I was about to jump back into the car and go looking for him when I saw his car lights pull onto the street. A sigh of relief ran through my body. He parked in the road, next to the curb, and joined Leon, Jesse, and me in the driveway.

"Thought they'd got you," I said, as he approached us.

"They can't ever get me. I'm untouchable," he replied. It was obvious by his remark, as well as his swagger, that he had been drinking.

"Well, dude, we should try to stay together when the cops bust in like that. Meet at that parking deck, or something. At least then I'll know when they do finally haul your off ass to jail," I joked with him.

"We can do that. But, you got to understand, I'm like jello. There's no way they could ever get a hold of this. They ain't got nothing on me," he slurred cockily.

"Jello? Please!" I exclaimed. "You'll be singing a different tune when you're sitting in that cell. Besides, you've been drinking. That's about it."

"Well that's true," he agreed.

"Guys want to come inside? Have a beer?" I asked the group.

"Yes," Vince said without a second thought. He led the way to the basement door. I knew Mia was probably asleep and didn't want to wake her up.

When we walked in, I noticed that Letty had brought the phone down from the kitchen. She was sitting in the armchair fully absorbed in a conversation with someone. She was speaking Spanish. This was curious. I knew that Letty knew Spanish but rarely did I hear her speak it. It was pretty sexy. I didn't know enough conversational Spanish to really pick up on much of what she was saying. In regards to Spanish, all I knew was that she wasn't talking about cars.

"Para el amor de Dios," she said. "¡Supéralo!"

I opened up the refrigerator and grabbed beers for the guys. I was trying to not pay her any attention. If she didn't want to speak the same language as us, that was her deal. I looked over at her, to offer her a beer.

"No sé. Quizá cinco," she laughed. She nodded at me. Apparently, that meant she wanted one. I walked over to her and handed her a beer. She smiled, but did not say anything- in English anyway.

"Pendejo…Si, manana, adios," she said, hanging up the phone. Those words I definitely knew.

I was choosing not to recognize this blatant disregard.

"What was that all about?" Vince asked curiously.

"Nothing," Letty said, shaking it off.

"Sounded like a fun conversation to me. What's going down tomorrow?" Leon joked.

"Hey, new guy, thanks for listening in," Letty retorted.

"What? I thought it was interesting. I didn't know it was some kind of a secret," he replied casually.

"Dominic, um, can I smoke in here?" Jesse asked.  
"Nah, man. Let's take it outside," I told him. He got up, grabbed his beer, and walked over towards the door. I followed him outside. But, before I closed the door behind us, I looked over at Vince.

"Don't let these two kill each other," I said to him, motioning towards Leon and Letty.

I walked outside and walked over to Jesse. I was a little irritated with Letty. I needed some air.

"Maybe you should put, uh, something on your hand, man," Jesse said, taking out and lighting a cigarette.

I had forgotten about it. It stopped throbbing. I looked down at my hand. There were several cuts and some dried blood. I guess I should have taken care of it. By the light of the moon, I could see an impressive size bruise starting to form. That would be fun to explain to my dad. I hadn't even looked in the mirror yet to see what my face looked like. I figured I would just deal with it all tomorrow.

"It'll be okay," I told him.

"So you and Zack got in a pretty good fight," Jesse commented.

"Well, anything worth doing…" I replied.

"That's awesome," he said. I was surprised by this statement.

"I thought you guys were really tight," I stated.

Jesse started laughing. "Could say the same about you two," he said.

I shrugged. Touché. That was a good point.

Jesse continued, "We haven't ever really been close. He's a tough guy to get close to because he, uh, really just uses everyone. And I got this attention problem thing and it always really pisses him off."

"That sucks. I guess I just seen you with him a lot lately," I replied as to why I made the assumption. What Jesse said made a lot of sense about Zack, though.

"Well, I's living with him for a little while. My Dad just got taken to County. But, I'm going to be staying with Leon now," he explained. "Wasn't really working out with Zack."

"How you know Leon?" I asked.

"He lives beside where I lived with my Dad. He's older but we've been friends since forever," he told me.

"Cool," I said.

"So how long have you been with Letty?" Jesse asked, seriously.

"Never. No. I mean, we're not. What makes you say that?" I asked flustered.

"Don't know. Just seemed like you are I guess. And Zack said that's what you got in a fight about," Jesse said.

"What? What did he say about it?" I asked surprised. It was interesting to learn that there had, apparently, been an entire conversation about the fight amongst these guys.

"Oh, I don't know. Just about dibs and stuff, calling dibs I mean," he said hesitantly.

"Awesome," I said sarcastically. "Did Letty hear that shit?"

He shook his head no.

"So, you're not together. But…you want to be, or you're about to be, something like that?" he asked for clarification. I wished that I knew the answer to this question. I didn't feel comfortable telling him the truth, or the whole story. I wasn't even sure if I knew the truth at this point.

"It's complicated," I finally replied.

"Always is with the ladies," he joked.  
I laughed. He had no idea.

"So how long you been into cars?" I asked, changing the subject.  
"I don't, man, long time. My Dad owned a garage, way out in East L.A., until he got sent…away," he said. I couldn't tell if his Dad's imprisonment was a sensitive subject for him. I decided to avoid it. I was not attempting to have a heart-to-heart right now with some kid I barely knew.

"Yeah? My Dad's got a garage too," I said. I thought it was really cool that his dad had a shop also. I realized that there might be more to Jesse than just fake id's and car decals.

"Yeah, Zack told me. I think I've seen it. DT's, right?" he asked.

"That's the one," I said, taking a long sip, finishing my beer.

"Oh my God," Letty groaned, walking outside.

"What's wrong?" I laughed.

"I might kill him," she said, totally honestly.

"Leon? No, I mean, he's really not bad. He's a good guy," Jesse defended sheepishly.

"Oh, I'm sure he's awesome," she stated sarcastically.

"Just got to get to know him," Jesse added.

"Can't wait for that," Letty retorted.

"God, you don't like anybody," I remarked, still a little pissed off. I was pretty sure that she picked up on it. I wasn't hiding it well.

"Looks who's talking," she snapped back.

"I like this guy," I motioned towards Jesse.  
"Alright, yeah, he's fine. But, Captain Goatee in there…not so sure."

I just smiled. I enjoyed the fact that she disliked him so much. It was pretty entertaining for me. I knew she thought this would be the last time she'd ever have to hang out with him. I would hate to break it to her that I actually really liked what I knew about these guys so far.

"Really? That's too bad. I was going to see if he wanted to move in. So, what? You don't want me to do that?" I mocked.

"Yeah that's…funny," she said, still exuding her pissed off attitude towards me.

I just shot her a smile. Our eyes connected. She did look angry. I loved how mad she could get at me.

"I love that you're made at me for _nothing_," I said flippantly.

"Dominic," she said, exasperated.

"What?" I asked, still joking with her, which just seemed to be making her more upset.

"Okay, I'm not going to stand out here for this. You guys have fun," Jesse said. He tossed his cigarette out to the grass, turned around, and walked inside.

"Are you really mad at me for something Leon did? Seriously?" I questioned.

"Not mad at you," she sighed.  
"Alright," I said in disbelief.

"Okay then," she stated in a dismissively agreeable manner.

"You want to talk about it?"

"When have I ever wanted to talk about it?"

Never. I guess that had been a stupid question.

"Where you been last week?" I asked her.  
"Jesus! Are we still on that?" she asked. "Why did you get in a fight with Zack?"

Shit.

"Alright, that's fair. You first," I said. I knew that if I went first she would never actually tell me her part. Of course, I was going to try to pull the same thing.

"Fuck," she started. "It's not like one huge thing I've been doing, some secret project behind your back. I've just been, you know, fucking around." She stopped.

Fucking around? I really hoped she did not mean that in the literal sense.

"Interesting choice of words."

"You know what I mean."

"Nah, you better keep going. You didn't tell me shit with that," I said, pushing for her to continue.

"Alright, well…" she started but stopped.

"Yeah?" I probed.

She paused.

She smiled, "Alright. So you're not allowed to comment, okay?"

"Oh this is going to be good," I smiled.

"If you do, I'm going to be pissed."  
"You're already pissed."

"Dom," she said seriously. She walked over and sat on the picnic table.

"Jesus, fine. I won't say anything," I said watching her move in the moonlight.

"Hector dropped out of school last week. He didn't tell anyone yet. I guess he's just waiting for people to notice. I don't know. But, don't say shit," she confided.

"Don't surprise me. I won't say nothing. But, what's that got to do with you?" I asked.

"Guess he's been bored because he's been teaching me how to drive, race, all that. We just been hanging out doing that," she said, avoiding looking at me. "That's where I been."

"That's weird," I said suspiciously. I think her mannerisms caused me to be even more skeptical of the situation. Why wouldn't she look at me when she told me?

"Why's that weird?"

"Why'd you keep that from me?"

"Cause I figured you'd think it was weird. What do you know? I was right," she said. Always full of sarcasm.

"You guys got something going on?" I finally asked.

"God, no. It's not even like that."

"So you just been at Hector's house?"

"More like his cousin's garage. But, yeah, basically. We've known them for a long time. It's really no big deal. And, I just really don't want to be at school. If I got anything else to do, I'm going to do it."

"Why do you hate school so much?"

"I don't hate it, it's just boring as fuck. I ain't got anybody like you do, breathing down my neck to graduate. That ain't my meal ticket. What I been doing with Hector, with your Dad, all that, that's my ticket. I got a couple more months till I'm sixteen. Then I can drop out, too. Till then I just got to play the game."

"Wow."

"What?"

"I just had no idea that you felt that way."

I walked over and sat at the picnic table. I faced her. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I guess it should not have been a huge surprise. But, from the way she spoke about it, she had clearly given it a great deal of thought.

"Well, now you do," she said matter-of-factly.

"You been talking to anyone about this or did you just reach this conclusion on your own?"

"Well I decided it on my own, yeah. But, I guess I been talking to Hector about it. He can work full time now. He doesn't have to deal with all the bullshit. I just want that, too."

"Why didn't you talk to me about it?"

"I don't know," she said confused. "I guess because I know you don't really got a choice. You got to graduate for your Dad."

"That don't mean you can't talk to me about it."

"Dom, you don't want to hear about my shit."

"Letty, I've always wanted to hear your shit. You ain't got to sneak in my window to talk to me about what's going on with you."

She laughed, smiled, and said, "I know. You just seemed really distracted lately. Like you got your own stuff going on."

The definition of irony. The girl I love doesn't want to talk to me about what's going on with her because I'm acting too distracted- by her.

"Hey, come here," I said, reaching out to her to come towards me. She walked up to me, her eyes glued to the ground. I brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. She lifted her eyes up to mine. "I'm never going to be too distracted for…you. Okay?"

She nodded. I realized, at that moment, my hand had not left her cheek. I took a step closer, my hand still on her. I looked down at her. She looked…beautiful. She reached up and kissed me. She kissed me.

TBC

---

AJ

Sorry it's taken so long. But, we're nearing an end with the Dom and Letty saga. Gee, I wonder if they'll ever get together…

Translations:

For the love of God- Para el amor de Dios

Get over it- Supéralo

No sé. Quizá cinco- I don't know. Maybe five

Pendejo. Si, manana, adios- Jerk. Yeah, tomorrow, bye


	24. Chapter 24

A/N- Sorry guys. The reason it took so long to get something up is a pretty complex story. But, not very interesting. So I'll just focus on the one below.

I felt her lips against mine. This was a nice turn of events. I wasn't expecting it. Her lips were soft. I really enjoyed kissing her. Kissing her. Who else had kissed her? Had Zack been able to kiss her? That was what he had insinuated. What if he had? Shit.

"Hold on a second," I said, pulling away. God, I sure didn't want to pull away. What was I doing?

"Hold on?" she asked confused.

"There's something I got to ask you," I said. I did not want to stop. And, I knew that regardless of the answer she would be mad at me for asking her about it. But, it had been bugging me. I didn't see that changing any time soon. I knew what I needed to do. I swallowed deeply and sighed.

"Oh boy," Letty said unenthusiastically.

"Letty," I said, trying to get her to act serious for a brief moment.

"Ask me," she said, apparently hoping to get the pain over with quickly. I didn't know what question she expected me to ask, but I didn't think it was the one she was about to hear.

I hesitated at first. Was it worth it to know? Yeah. I really thought that it was. Despite how mad she would be that I was prying into her business, yet again, I had to. I just had to know. "Did you sleep with Zack?"

"Why are you asking me that?" she said, progressively showing more disdain in her voice. I was trying to read her body language. She was smiling, somewhat. Mostly, she was just sitting there, waiting to get mad.

"Why are you avoiding the question?" I asked. She was trying to turn it around on me. I knew that tactic. It was one I used frequently, especially when a girl was getting mad at me for something that I had done. This was concerning.

"Why are you answering my question with a question?" she asked, getting audibly much louder. Her voice sounded pretty angry at this point. I couldn't tell if it was the frustration from the conversation or if she was trying to hide something. I feared the latter.

This cycle could go on forever. We were both champions at avoidance. And we had played this game of back and forth questions before. From experience, I knew that it usually didn't end in the right place.

"You know…I think I got my answer," I finally said. If she wasn't going to tell me no, then it was pretty clear what the answer was. Maybe she just didn't want to lie to me. Maybe she was embarrassed or shy about it. I could only speculate. But, if she'd slept with Zack, that would change everything. I felt like I had been sucker punched, like the rug just got pulled out from under me. Damn.

"God, don't do that!" she said exasperated.

"What?" I asked, starting to get very upset.  
"Just assumin' you know," she cocked an attitude. She stood up and crossed her arms, scowling at me.

"Well, didn't hear you say no," I responded, starting to yell.

"But you heard me say yes?" she yelled back.

"I'm not doing this," I said and stood up. I wasn't going to get in a fight about this. I was hurt. I definitely felt betrayed. I wasn't sure who I felt more betrayal from, Letty or Zack. But the combination definitely killed me. I didn't want her to see how angry I was or how it was just too painful to accept. I guess it had been my own fault all along. But, I wasn't going to stand out in the yard and fight with her. It wasn't worth it.

"You self-righteous son of a bitch," Letty responded as I walked back towards the house. With that, I stopped. Did I want to turn back around? If she couldn't even be honest with me, what was the point? I didn't want to fight with her. I definitely had things I wanted to say, though. But, the things I wanted to say, my part of the argument, I couldn't articulate yet. I still wasn't ready. And, now was definitely not the time to reveal my feelings to her.

"What?" I replied angrily. I turned around and faced her. She hadn't moved.

"Have I _ever_ asked you about the girls you've slept with?" she questioned. Was this a trick question?

"Fuck, I don't know," I said. What did that have to do with it? Well, I guess I could see the connection. But, we weren't talking about me.

"No. I haven't. It ain't my business. What makes you think who I do or do not sleep with is any of your damn business?"

"This is different."

"How's it different? How's it only different when it's me? You don't never have to talk about shit you don't want to!"

"Because it's Zack!" I yelled.

"And?"

"And, what?

"He's _your_ friend!"

"Not anymore."

"Why're you being such a dick?"  
"Why are you lying to me? Man up, Letty. Just admit it!"

"I ain't admitting shit to you."  
"You know…it don't even matter. He already told me. I can't believe you'd actually have sex with him," I said throwing my hands up in the air.

"Check your sources, asshole," she yelled. With that, she turned and started walking in the opposite direction. She was storming away from the house, from me.

I supposed that she was probably running off to Zack now. She could tell him about the fight, then Zack could tell her about our fight. I was pretty angry I had created a situation where they could share something like this. I was beyond angry. I felt so out of control, again.

"Dom, come here," I heard Mia yell from the side steps.

"Not now, Mia," I called back. That was the last thing I needed. I didn't want to hear Mia complain to me about the noise or having too much company over. I couldn't take her nagging me right now.

"Dom before you make more of a butthead of yourself, come here," she insisted.

"What do you want?" I asked infuriated.

"What do you think you are doing? Are you trying to throw this out the window?" she asked, lowering her tone.

"What are you talking about?" I asked completely confused but approaching her.  
"With Letty. Wait…just come with me," she said, pulling me inside the house. She closed the door behind her and led me upstairs to her room. I could hear Jesse, Leon, and Vince listening to music downstairs. I hoped this meant that they'd missed hearing any of the fight between Letty and me.

When we got up to her room, she closed the door. It was a little weird. I didn't go into Mia's room very much. It was a lot cleaner than mine. Why had she brought me in here? She didn't know what was going on. I couldn't imagine what she wanted to talk to me about. And, a butthead? She called me a butthead. It felt like 3rd grade again. This sure wasn't turning into a very successful night.

"Dom, you love Letty. We get it. We _all_ get it. Now you need to start taking control of this situation before you damage it beyond repair," she explained clearly, sitting down on her bed.

'Love Letty'. 'All get it.' These words repeated in my mind. Who 'all' gets it? When did Mia find out that I loved Letty? 'Control'. I wish I could take control. What was Mia attempting to accomplish right now? What was she talking about? I had a feeling we weren't exactly on the same page.

"Don't act so surprised. You try to hide so much from me. I'll let you in on a little secret- you suck at it," she said, pulling me in and whispering.

"Hm." Just one more thing I was doing poorly. For a night that I won a car, my ego was really starting to plummet.

"I don't know what spawned that conversation about Zack that you just had with her but that was just stupid," she told me.

"How'd you know?"

"Dom, you're right out my window genius. You don't even have to try to hear what goes on outside. Especially when people are yelling."

"Well, sorry about the noise," I said begrudgingly. "But, Mia, I don't think you really know what you're talking about," I said. If she knew the half of it…  
"Try me," she replied impudently.

"Okay," I said, knowing that she would be blown away after hearing some of the details. "I got in a fight with Zack tonight. Over Letty. He was talking shit. He said that he and Letty hooked up."

"Well I can just look at you and tell that you got in a fight tonight, Dom. You clearly haven't done much to hide that. And, yeah, I'm sure he probably did say something like that. But, when do you think Letty is having all this sex?" she asked me. I didn't like my baby sister talking about sex.

"Maybe when she ain't going to school," I said flippantly.

"That has nothing to do with sex and you know that," she said deliberately.

"Did she tell you?" I asked. I didn't want to divulge all of Letty's secrets. But, had she really been talking to Mia too?

"I know enough to confidently say that you know it was not sexually related," she said. There she went with the sex word again. I had to look past that and try to wrap my head around the statement she made. She knew enough to tell me what I knew? How did that work? I brushed it off.

"Then why'd he say that?" I asked Mia. If she knew everything, maybe she could enlighten me.  
"Gee, Dom, maybe to piss you off. And, it worked so he accomplished that. Why would you believe him over Letty? When have you known her to lie to you? You're the only person she is honest with. And you are about this close to losing that with her if you keep this up," she said making about an inch long space between her index finger and thumb to, I assume, emphasize how close I was. This was unnecessary. I got it. I figured I had already lost that chance.

I nodded.

"You got mad at her because of what he said. He's a threat to you. You are scared that she will pick him over you. And, honestly, I wouldn't blame her. But, for some reason she has her mind set on you," she said.

All I could think was whether or not Dr. Mia had any other part of my life she would like to analyze? She was right. I did view Zack as a threat to my chances with Letty. But, Mia was under the impression that Letty had her 'mind set on me'. "What do you mean?" I asked for clarification.

"You aren't that hard, Dom. You know what I mean. You're like some, I don't know, mythical figure to her," she replied.

"Wow, mythical, huh?" I responded. Nice. That helped to boost up that ego a tad.

"Don't let it get to your head, Romeo. I have tried my dead-level best to stay out of your sex life. Believe me. I'm your sister. It's weird. But this sort of got thrown into my lap. And you were doing pretty good there for a while. But for some reason you have taken a drastic 180. You need to take a reality check. Letty doesn't know why you are getting so worked up over Zack. You haven't told her that you like her. For all she knows, you are just being a jerk. And, honestly, I can't disagree."

Whoa, easy now. She was getting a little sassy. And I had to disagree with them both. This may not have been my shining moment but I certainly wasn't a jerk, not to them anyway, typically.

Well, maybe I was being a little bit of a jerk.

"So what are you saying?" I asked. Mia had a way of going on and on without ever really reaching a point. I was afraid that was where this was heading.

"First off, you need to go find her. You need to apologize. You need to tell her why you acted like such an idiot. You need to bring her back home, Dom. If you aren't ready to tell her how you feel, that is your deal. But, you need to fix this. Now," she said, pointing to the door.

"So you think she likes me, huh?" I asked. I was stuck on that. That was all I had gotten out of this. Mia thinks that Letty likes me. Vince thinks that Letty likes me. Interesting.

"No, don't get fixated. Go fix it," she said. "Right now. Go. What are you waiting for?"

As she pushed me out the door I said, "alright, I'm going. Geez. When did you get so nosey?"

"The day everyone all of a sudden started living here. Now go fix it," she said, closing her bedroom door behind me.

I think that was what they call an intervention.

Super, now I had to go find Letty. In the middle of the night. In L. A. And, I had to apologize. This was going to suck. I had no clue as to where Letty might be. When she was upset, she ran to my house. I didn't know where else she would go. But, I guessed that the search would give me plenty of time to figure out what I was supposed to say. I sure as hell didn't want to tell her that I liked her. And I was pretty sure she wouldn't accept something as simple as 'sorry, let's go back home'.

Maybe she did like me after all. Other people thought so. She hadn't told me anything about it and I hadn't said anything to her. All I knew for sure was that I didn't want to be turned down by her. That would make things really awkward. I would feel like an idiot. And, as much as I hated to admit it, that would hurt me. I needed to tell her. Not now, though, not under these circumstances. I didn't want to tell her because I had to. I wanted to tell her because I wanted to. Because I wanted her to know.

Letty might like me.

This was an abstract concept for me. I liked it though. I liked this idea. Letty might like me. Yeah.

"Letty," I called out. I was only halfway down the block and I saw her. She was sitting on the curb talking to Hector. Great.

"Dominic, I'm tired. It's late. And, I sure as hell don't want to get back into it with you right now. I'm mad at you. Leave me alone," she said, standing up and walking away from both Hector and me.

"Um, I'm gonna go inside, ese. If you guys need anything just let me know," Hector said, politely excusing himself from an awkward situation. So far tonight, that had made two of our friends that wanted to run away from our conversations.

"Thanks, man," I said, nodding. I appreciated that he was there for Letty. But, I wanted to be the only one that was there for her. I guessed that I was a little jealous. A little.

Letty continued to walk down the street, her stride getting longer as she noticed me following her.  
"Dominic, I said leave me alone," she reiterated.  
"Yeah, that's likely," I said. I wasn't going to leave her alone. I certainly wasn't going to let her wander the streets of our neighborhood at night. I knew the kind of things that went on. Typically, I was a part of them. I didn't want her to be.

"Dom!" she yelled back, turning around to face me. Stopping.

"Got you to stop didn't I?"

"Ugh."

"Letty, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It was a dick thing to do. I know you better than that. I was mad at Zack and I took it out on you. That wasn't right," I said, probably forming the most sincere apology I ever had. And, it was even premeditated. I was good.

"Damn right," she said, completely unyielding.

"I got in a fight with Zack tonight. I know you asked about it. I wasn't going to tell you. But, I told you that I wouldn't ever make you a promise that I couldn't keep. And, I said that if you told me what you'd been doing, I would tell you. I owe you the truth."

"Okay, let's have it," she pushed.

"From earlier this morning Zack was talking about trying to get with you. I asked him to back off and he said he would. But, when we got to the races, he clearly wasn't. You can't deny that. He was flirting with you pretty hardcore. And then he started talking to me about having hooked up with you. And I know that it was just to piss me off. It worked. I ended up beating his ass pretty hard. But, I should've realized that I know you better than that. And you wouldn't do that. I'm sorry," I said. Those words tasted pretty bitter in my mouth but I knew they needed to be said. I was glad no one else was around to hear this.

"You should be," she said, arms folded.

"Come on, Let, cut me some slack. This wasn't exactly an easy thing for me to do."

"I know. I appreciate it. Why did Zack use _me_? Why didn't he use Mia? I'd think that anyone wanting to piss you off would say they got with Mia," she said, relaxing her stance just slightly.

"Because…it's different. And, I really don't want to get into why or how or anything right now. But, trust me when I say that it is very, very different."

She started laughing.

"What?"  
She continued to laugh, providing no response to my question.

"What? What the hell are you laughing at? I just fucking opened up. That's not how we play this game," I said, starting to get a little pissed at this disrespect.

"Oh, Dominic. You got it bad. It's okay. It'll be our secret," she said, turning around and walking back towards the direction of my house.

Wait. What just happened?

TBC

---

AJ


	25. Chapter 25

I stood there, stunned, for a second. What did she say? What was that supposed to mean? Was I just reading into everything she said now? Or did that actually have some significance? Why was I standing on the sidewalk playing Twenty Questions with myself? Then I looked up and remembered why. Letty.

She was busy making her way back to the house. By the time I was actually able to pull it together enough to walk, she was a good bit ahead. I saw her outline as she made her way down the sidewalk. A mixture of the streetlights and the moonlight allowed me a pretty good view of her ass, so I kept my distance, enjoying the view. This had been one crazy night. I was glad that things were okay between us. I was also extremely glad that Letty had not slept with Zack. Mia was right. I wouldn't tell her that she was right, but it was good to know.

I turned the corner up the driveway and noticed that Letty made her way through the side door and into the basement. I had almost forgotten about Vince, Leon, and Jesse. I passed by my new car and smiled. I had beaten Tran. And, if Zack hadn't done anything with Letty, I had pretty much schooled him too.

I heard the music still blaring from the basement as I opened the door. A pyramid of beer cans made a nice display on the coffee table. I looked around the room. Jesse was asleep on one chair, Leon on another, and Vince was still drinking. That was my boy. He was a trooper. I knew him well enough to know that the drama outside was motivation enough to keep him awake. He wanted to know what happened. I couldn't blame him.

"What the hell went down out there? You went outside to watch Jesse smoke a cigarette like two hours ago," he slurred as I went and sat beside him on the couch.

"It ain't been that long," I brushed him off. Two hours? Well, maybe. Who was keeping track of time anymore?

"Yeah, probably was. But that don't matter. That ain't my point. I heard you yellin', Letty yellin', fuckin' even Mia yellin'. What's…what's going on?" he asked, trying to pull it together and be coherent. He wasn't fooling anybody.

"Where's Letty?" I asked. I had watched her walk in but she was no where in sight.

"Bed. She said she's goin' to bed. But you didn't answer me," he said using a great deal of hand motions to emphasize his points. I loved drunk Vince.

I hesitated. How to verbalize this? I was tired of talking to people tonight.

"I asked her if she'd slept with Zack," I finally let out.

He laughed, "I'm sure that went over well."

"You heard all the yellin'. You know exactly how well it didn't go," I replied.

"So she just started yelling after you asked her?" he probed drunkenly.

"Not exactly," I started. "She wouldn't answer. I just couldn't let it go. The more she didn't answer the more I thought that maybe she had."

"Dude you don't listen to nobody. I already told you that she don't like him. She ain't going to go off and sleep with him," Vince blurted out.

"I know. I just had to find out for myself. Guess I didn't really handle it the best way. But, least I know now,"

"And?" he pressed.

"And…she didn't," I said, feeling somewhat beaten.

"Told ya," he replied smiling.

"Yeah, alright, shut up," I responded.

"So things cool now?" he inquired.

"I guess," I shrugged.

"That's all that happened? That's not a very good story," he said disappointed.

"Sorry to let ya down. She did say something weird at the end," I said. Maybe even in a drunken state Vince could help me make heads or tails of what she'd said. He was really my only source right now.

"What?" he asked, excited.

"She said something like that I 'had it bad'," I repeated.

"Yeah. I think she's probably right," he laughed.

"So you think that means she knows, huh?"

"Well you don't exactly hide it well, bro. And after you getting so pissed about her maybe sleeping with another dude. Yeah, I'd say she's probably got a pretty good idea."

"Hm."

"So you may as well quit dickin' around."

"You still dating that one chick?" I asked, turning this around.

"Kelly? I don't know," he said, throwing up his hands in confusion.

I smiled. So I guess I wasn't the only one that was confused about relationships. Nothing like the pot calling the kettle black. Relationships. They sure were complicated. No wonder I had run from them for so long. Relationships had to get easier outside of high school.

"How do you not know?"

"She fucking called me the other day just pissed. Screamin' and shit," he informed, looking around. I followed his gaze. I didn't know what he could be looking for. I was pretty sure that Kelly wasn't here.

"So…why? What did you do?" I said, trying to grab his attention back to the conversation.

"Me? Nah, it's not me. Kelly thinks I been sleeping with Maria."

"Maria who?"

"Martinez."

"Nice," I smiled. She was hot.

"Yeah, I know," he responded, also smiling.

"Did you?"

"Yeah," he confirmed.

"How's she know?"

"Don't know. How do girls just know shit? She said that she heard," he said. He was still slurring and it was hard not to laugh.

"Heard from who?"

"Don't know."

"Easy solution, man. Just deny it," I said, offering up the advice that I would probably take myself.

"I don't think it's that simple."

"Is unless you complicate it. Ain't nothing hard about 'nah, baby, I wouldn't do that'," I said, giving him an example. Vince worked best when given examples.

"Yeah, 'cept she don't believe it."

"Find out who told her. Just lie about it. It'll go away," I reassured. Pristine advice.

"Think that'll work?"

"Yeah, so long as you do it right."

"Think Letty's gonna to buy that shit when you two start dating?"

I hadn't even thought about that.

"Letty don't believe shit I say anyway. If I told her the sky was blue she'd try to call me out on it. And, she'd definitely try to kick my ass if she did find out I's lying to her about something. For safety reasons, I probably couldn't even chance it with her," I said. Translation being, I wouldn't want to cheat on Letty. I couldn't stand to hurt her like that. Granted, she would try to fight me, I had not doubt about that. But, it went above and beyond that. And, apart from Letty, I couldn't imagine wanting to be with anyone else. But that was a translation for me alone.

Vince grinned. "Going exclusive on me, huh?"

"Ain't nothing happened yet."

"It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks."

"Speaking from experience, Coyote?"

Vince chuckled.

"I'd feel bad hurting her though. I mean wouldn't you want to kick someone's ass that hurt Letty?"

"Hell yeah. Like that Diego punk," he said, getting much louder.

"Yeah, so what if it was me, though?"

"Probably have to kick your ass."

"Dream on," I rolled my eyes at him. I hadn't ever fought Vince but it would be a pretty even battle at this point.

"Nah I see your point though. It's different. It's Letty," Vince replied. Then, he plastered on the most sarcastic grin before saying, "that's sweet."

"You gonna make comments like that the whole time we're together?"

He thought for a second. "Probably not. Guess it depends on how long y'all are together. It'll get old eventually."  
"I think it's getting pretty old now."

"Don't really matter if you never actually get with her. So what's your plan?"

"Don't really got a plan."  
"You should. Get some strategy going. Play a little offense."

"Dude I can't even think right now. What time is it? Is that the sun coming up?"

"Yeah," he responded. Vince looked around the room and commented, "guess these guys are crashing here."

"That's cool. I don't care."

"Man Leon, don't guess you got to talk to him too much, you were too busy dealing with your lady. But, he's a cool dude."

"Yeah. Jesse's pretty badass too. Have to put them to work in the garage and see if any kind of magic happens," I said, starting to stand up off the couch.

"Dawg you look like shit. If I hadn't seen Zack too, I'd think you got your ass beat," he smiled.

"Does it really look that bad?"

He nodded.

"Shit," I said, touching the already tender spots on my face. It make me wince.

"Big daddy Toretto is gonna to be pissed."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Listen, I'm gonna crash. I'll catch you in the morning."

"Word," Vince said, spreading out on the couch as I made my way towards the steps. "Hey yo," he called out to me as I started ascending the staircase.

"Hm?"

"Awesome job with Tran," he said, almost asleep.

"Yeah, thanks brother," I smiled proudly.

I made my way up the stairs. I had so much on my mind I could barely think. When I reached the upstairs I looked down the hall. Small rays of early sunlight were beginning to fill the foyer. I saw the door to Letty's room. I leaned against the wall, just looking at it. She was sleeping in there. I wanted to go in. I wanted to see her, hold her. But, that would not be the right thing to do. I needed to go to bed.

I took a deep breath and opened my bedroom door. I turned on the light, almost hoping to see Letty sleeping on my floor. She wasn't. With a sigh of disappointment, I turned off my light and climbed into bed.

-

"Dominic, get up!" I heard my Dad yell from downstairs.

I felt like I'd just gone to sleep about an hour ago. Oh, I was tired. It was not time to get up. It was time to keep sleeping. I rolled over and did just that.

"I'm not going to tell you again, boy. Get up," Dad said.

I could tell that he was in my room. I rolled over and tried to open my eyes. It was definitely a struggle. I finally got them open and yawned big. I blinked, trying to block out the sunlight that was overwhelming.

"What happened to you?" he asked astounded.

"When?" I managed to groan out. I had no clue what he was asking me.

"Did you get in a fight?"

Oh, yeah. Shit. I had gotten in a fight. I guess sleeping about an hour or so didn't do much to cover up that fact. I stretched. I felt my hand throb. As I woke up, I remembered all of the night's escapades. I hit a wall. With my fist. In retrospect, it hadn't been the best choice. I felt it this morning. Ouch. It hurt. So did my left cheek. So did my entire body because I was so tired. Hindsight, 20/20.

"Sort of," I responded.

"How do you sort of get into a fight?" he asked.

"Dad, I can't even think right now. Let me wake up first," I told him.

"You best get to it," he said.

Oh. Why was he being such an ass? I yawned again. I wanted to roll back over and fall asleep. I knew that wasn't an option. I didn't want him to have him tell me again. I knew he wouldn't be as nice about it the third time.

"Which one of your buddies left their car here last night?" he asked as he was heading for the doorway.

"Huh?"

Their car? Who left their car? I had no idea what he was talking about. He knew Vince's car. Who else was here? Jesse, Leon. They didn't drive over here. Wait, yes they did. Leon drove my car. He was asking about Tran's car. My car. The Nissan.

"The car, Dominic. Who's car?"

"Oh, it's mine."

"Yours?"

"Give me like five minutes. I'll come talk to you. I got to wake up."

He walked over to the door, opening it and leaving. He didn't bother to close the door I noticed.

I had no idea how long it took me to stand up. But, eventually I did. I had to catch my balance and my head started to pound. I hadn't had that much to drink, but I guess a lack of sleep will also do that to you. I made my way downstairs. I was so tired. I felt like I was sleepwalking. I entered the kitchen. Letty was sitting at the table eating cereal. She looked fine- very fine in her tiny shorts and tank top. Vince was a different story. He looked like I did, exhausted. He also looked pretty hungover. I looked at the clock, almost 11. I guess I had slept a little more than an hour, but not much more.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Letty commented.

I didn't react. I walked over to the coffee maker and poured a cup. I took a sip. It burned my lip but my nerves and reflexes were still sleeping so it didn't make a difference.

"Well you guys must have had some night," Dad said, looking back and forth between Vince and I.

I shrugged. He didn't really want to know.

"Alright, so I'm excited about this story Dom," Dad said enthusiastically. How could he have so much energy?

"Where's Mia?" I asked. I wasn't intentionally trying to change the subject. But if it ended up being a byproduct I would not be disappointed.

"She went to church with your aunt," he responded.

Church? It was Sunday. That meant I had to go to school tomorrow. That sucked.

"Dominic, you were about to tell me a really interesting story. I'm waiting."

With this statement, Letty and Vince both looked up. I guess they wanted to hear an interesting story too.

"Can we maybe talk about this alone?" I asked, avoiding making eye contact with either of them.

"Dude, it's cool. I ain't been home in a few days. I think I'm gonna go put in an appearance. I'll catch up with you later," Vince said. He got up from the table, rubbing the stubble on his face. He made his way out of the room.

"Alright, man. I'll check you later," I called out to him. I heard the door close behind him.

"And, I'm just going to go because this looks like it could get uncomfortable. I'm not really down with that," Letty said, taking her bowl over to the sink and then leaving the room.

"Wow, they sure cleared out quick. So, what all do you need to tell me?" he said. He took a seat at the table and pulled out a chair for me.

"It's not that big of a deal," I said, sitting beside him. This felt like an interrogation. I didn't think it was fair. I was still asleep. I could not come up with a lie that quickly in this drowsy state of mind.

"There's a strange car in the driveway, two random people downstairs, Vince looks like he's been hit by a bus, your face is bruised, lip cut, and your hand is torn to hell. I can't wait to hear how this isn't a big deal," he responded.

I hesitated. Damn. Perceptive fellow.

"Whenever you're ready," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So we went to the races last night," I started. I didn't make it too far before I was interrupted by the guy who just _had_ to hear the whole, interesting story.

"You know how I feel about that. You get arrested, Dom, and it's over," he butted in.

"Dad, it was fine," I said. I was a teenager. Everything was fine. The only thing that wasn't fine was being hassled by parents when you were really, really tired.

"Alright," he relented.

"So, Johnny Tran was there. And I been doing real good against him the past couple weeks, you know? But, he challenged me. He wanted to race for pinks. I wasn't going to do it. But, I couldn't not do it. There were just too many people around, everyone knew what was goin' on. I just couldn't back down."

"Dom…," he started to say. Two could play the interrupting game, though.

"Dad, let me finish. So we ended up racin' and I won. That's where the car came from. I won it, free and clear. Got the slip and everything," I said, trying to show my excitement through my fatigue.

"You planning on payin' the insurance for that extra car?" he said.

That was such a dad-point to make. Nothing like parents to bring a fucking monsoon on your parade.

"I hadn't really gotten that far yet," I said. It happened less than twelve hours ago. Of course, I had not even considered something as tedious as insurance.

"I can tell," he responded.

"Come on. Don't take this from me," I pleaded.

I knew Dad understood a lot more than he was willing to let on most of the time. From the stories I had heard from his buddies at the garage, he did the same things when he was in high school. That was how I knew I could tell him. He never got too mad at me when the stunts I pulled mirrored the ones he used to pull back in his day.

"Dominic, once upon a time I was young too. I understand why you did it. But that just goes back to what I keep talking to you about. You don't think things through. You could have lost _your_ car. Then what? Johnny Tran's got that kind of money to throw around. You don't. I know it seems like it's all about appearances to you right now. But responsibility falls a lot deeper than that," he lectured.

Responsibility. I hated that word. Parents always used it against you. I was responsible. I had won a car. That sounded pretty freaking responsible to me.

"Dad, I thought about it. And, I had to do it. You can understand that, right?"

"I can understand it. That doesn't mean that I didn't wish you would have made a better decision."

"Ugh,"I sighed. Yeah, yeah.

"So, what about the fight?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," I said. Too bad he didn't just forget. He had a memory like an elephant.

"Who did you get in a fight with? It wasn't Johnny was it? I don't want Dr. Tran calling here," he said.

"No, it wasn't Johnny," I told him.

"Who then?"  
"Zack."

"I thought you guys were friends."

"We _were_."

"You going to keep going with that story, son?"

I rubbed my head. I would have preferred not to. But, I knew that sentence only had a question mark when it was on paper. It wasn't actually a question. It wasn't really optional.

"It was over a girl," I begrudgingly said.

My dad smiled. "What girl?" he asked knowingly.

Jesus.

"Just a girl," I said bluntly.

"Does she live in this house?" he continued to smile.

"Dad," I groaned. I wasn't in a very good mood, clearly.

"Alright. I won't make you tell me. It's not like I don't know anyway. But you know what would make this a lot simpler?"

"Yes." I knew what he was going to say. It was the same thing that everyone was saying to me. Tell her.

"Just tell her," he said.

I still felt the same way about telling her as I did the last time I heard it, less than twelve hours ago.

"I know."

"But, Dominic, and this is very serious so you listen to me. She is young. She's been through a lot. I know you care about her. And I am sure that she cares about you too. But you be careful. You be responsible with this, son. And take things, _real_ slow. Don't think I don't know what some of your past relationships, or whatever you kids are calling them, have been like. Not exactly slow. That is not gong to happen here, with her. You hear me?" he warned.

"I hear you, Dad."

"And if I hear otherwise…"

"I get it," I stopped him. I wouldn't hurt her. I knew my reputation may speak otherwise. But, I knew me. And I knew that I could be more than my reputation allowed.

"I know I'm gone a lot and she sleeps here. If you take advantage of that you have no idea how disappointed I will be in you. I will ring you up by your neck, boy," he said.

"It's not about that," I assured him.

"I know. And that's the only reason I'm allowing it to happen."

"Alright."

"Dominic, I need to know that you can handle things when I'm not here. I need to know that you can be a man. I've been gone a lot at races. And, I'm going to be gone a lot more. You have to step up and take my place when I'm not here. That means taking care of the house, the shop, of your sister, and of Letty. And, you have to take care of yourself. But, Mia and Letty, they come first, Dom. And always should. You get it?"

"I get it," I responded. And, I did. I wanted to always put them first.

"You aren't a kid anymore. I need you to be the kind of man I can respect."

"I will be. I wanna be," I told him. And, truthfully, I wanted nothing more.

"You can be. You still seem to be having some difficulty with thinking, but I think that you have a pretty good idea of what it takes to be a man."

I nodded.

"You need to go to bed earlier, too," he said, pulling that parent card again.

"Okay," I groaned.

"And how about those guys downstairs. They friends of yours? I hadn't never seen them around here before."

"Oh, yeah. They're new, I guess. They're good guys though."

"That's fine. I just wanted to check. You have your sister sleeping right upstairs. You don't let anyone stay in this house that you don't trust around her."

"Not an issue with these guys," I reassured him.

"Okay. I'm going to trust you, Dominic. Don't make me regret it."

"I won't," I promised him.

"Did you do your homework this weekend?" he asked.

Jesus Christ. Homework? We weren't going to enter that arena. I'd given him a lot of information. I wasn't about to get into school too. I rolled my eyes and stood up. I grabbed my cup of coffee and headed out of the kitchen, back to my bed.  
"Well you get it done before tomorrow morning," he called out, partly laughing, as I darted out of the room.

"Sure thing," I responded. I didn't think I'd even brought my book bag home. Guess I couldn't do my homework. One less thing to worry about. Maybe after some sleep I would try to work on that plan Vince had been referring to.

TBC

---

AJ


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: All claims over The Great Gatsby belong to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The quote below comes from the first page of this book.

This chapter helps set the stage for a bigger event that will come in the following chapter.

-

I spent my entire Sunday afternoon being completely useless. I stayed in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, until I was too hungry to think of much else. It was really my only motivation for getting up. I supposed that I should have checked on Leon and Jesse at some point that morning. But, I didn't want to get up. I was tired. I was tired physically and emotionally. I was tired of trying to guess what was happening in my life.

I rolled out of bed. The sun was starting to go down. This day had been totally wasted. But, it was fine. Monday was a school day. I was going to be forced to be productive, whether I wanted to or not.

I stepped out of my room. I figured that I probably needed a shower. Before making my way to the bathroom, I passed Mia.

"Did you just get up?" she asked aggravated.

"No," I replied. I had been up once already today. That counted.

"How can you be okay with being so lazy?"

"Takes some practice. But, it's a learned skill."

She sighed, shook her head in disappointment, and then went off to do, inevitably, another extremely productive activity.

After that insult, I made it to the shower. I turned on the water and stepped in. It was cold at first, giving me a burst of alertness. When the water finally warmed, I stood under the showerhead and let the warm water wash away my problems, at least for right now. Right now, I didn't have to figure out a way to pass so that I could be promoted to the 12th grade. Right now, I didn't have to figure out a way to tell Letty how I felt. I didn't have to figure out a way to pay car insurance on another vehicle. I didn't have to figure out how to deal with Zack and the foreseeable drama that would still be there. I didn't have to figure out how to handle Tran and the outrageous competition that was beginning to build up between us. I didn't have to figure out how to be the kind of guy my dad wanted me to be. I could just be clean. That was a start.

I definitely needed some food, had to refuel the system. I went downstairs. I noticed Vince was watching television. I couldn't tell what Letty was doing, but I saw her in their too. I passed by without so much as an acknowledgement. I made a sandwich and then headed back upstairs. I figured that I'd already spent the better part of the day sleeping, why change now?

I climbed back into my bed, eating the sandwich and thinking about nothing. I wasn't really tired. I guess twelve hours of sleeping will do that to a person. I looked around my room for something to do. Nothing. I could clean up. But, I didn't want to. I could do laundry. But, that would involve me going back downstairs.

"Hey," Letty said, walking into my room. She was holding a book. I was trying to remember if I'd ever seen Letty holding a book before.

"What?"

"I need you to make me read this. Come on, motivate me."

"What is this?" I said, looking at the book she was holding in her hands.

"Some bull shit. I've _got_ to read it for English," she said, flashing me the cover.

"Well read it then."

"That's not very motivating," she said, walking in all the way and closing the door.

"I'm probably not the one you should go to for motivation with school. Have you tried Mia? Why are you so concerned about reading it anyway?"

"Honestly, 'cause I'm gonna fail freshman English if I can't pull something out of this."

"If you're gonna drop out anyway why's it matter if you pass or not?"

"I want droppin' out to be my choice. Not because I can't do it. You're the worst motivator ever."

"I told you."

"Well stop suckin' and be good at it."

I sat up on the bed and sighed. Motivate. I couldn't even motivate myself, let alone someone else.

"Don't you got some homework?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"How're you not failing?"

I shrugged again.

I didn't want to tell her that I was. And, I was probably in the same boat as her. If I didn't do something to turn my grades around soon it would be too late. "I think the teachers just grade me on how awesome I am."

She just looked at me, and laughed. "Yeah, right."

"Well, read the book then smart ass. Open it up. Come on. Hussle." It was the best 'motivation' I could muster.

"There you go, coach. I knew you had it in ya," she said. She picked up a pile of clothes that were on my floor and threw them on another, much larger pile.

Shit, she had just ruined my laundry system. The one pile of clothes were dirty but still wearable. The other pile was dirty and definitely needed to be washed. Now they were all mixed up. I didn't know what I would be wearing this week now.

She positioned herself on a large pillow I had laying on the floor. She was moving some other small articles of crap around, trying to make a large enough area for her to spread out.

"Here," she said, throwing a book at me. "This looks like it's for school. Read this."

I looked at the cover of the book she just threw at me. I noticed it as the book that I was supposed to have been reading the past couple of weeks for English. What the hell? Maybe it would help me fall back to sleep. I recalled the teacher mentioning something about a test on it this next week. I had not even opened the book up. So, if I read a couple of pages at least I would have a shot at getting a couple of questions right…maybe.

I imagined that the book had been in the same place, under my pile of clean-ish laundry, since the day they handed them out in class. I remembered coming home and thinking that I would read it later. Well, this was much later.

"I'm not the one who's wanting to do homework."

"Oh, come on. You read yours, I'll read mine. It'll be fun."

"That don't sound like fun to me."

"What else you got to do?"

"I could just distract you." That was always fun for me.

"What happened to that motivation, man?"

I sighed and picked it up. _The Great Gatsby_. It looked pretty stupid. I laid back down on my bed. I turned to chapter 1:

_In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since._

_'Whenever you fee l like criticizing anyone,' he told me 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'_

I could hear Letty squirming around on the floor. She had her book open, but it didn't look like she was reading.

"You readin' or what?"

"Trying to," she said.

"Get up in the bed," I said, patting the spot next to me.

She looked at me oddly after making that statement.

"It's more comfortable," I clarified.

"I don't know," she hesitated. "I don't think I wanna risk catchin' all the diseases that are probably floating around on those sheets."

I shot her an annoyed look. "Just get up here."

She climbed up into the bed and laid down beside me. She opened her book back up. I took my right arm and tucked it behind my head, attempting to pick up where I'd left off on that page.

She nestled into the pillow. I looked over at her and couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" she asked, glancing over at me.

"This is something I ain't never done with a girl in my bed before," I smiled. And it wasn't really what I wanted to do with her in my bed right now. I could think of other more exciting activities we could engage in. But, she wanted to read. I don't know why.

"It's good to try new things," she responded.

"If you say so."

Just then my Dad popped his head in. He looked somewhat dumbfounded to see Letty lying in my bed. I guess it did look a little suspicious.

"What are you doing?" he asked me apprehensively.

"We're readin'," I told him, as if this was something I did every day.

"Reading?"

"Yeah, you know? Books," I said flippantly. He should be glad I was doing school work. Wasn't that what he'd told me to do earlier today?

"I know books. I didn't know that you knew books. Reading, huh? Well, good," he said, turning to leave. He was shutting the door as he walked out. But, then pushed it back open about half way. Guess he still didn't trust me completely with Letty. That was probably wise on his part.

The fact he left the door open made me laugh. I looked back over at her. She really was reading. So, I continued. Not much of the first page was making sense. But, I pressed on. I figured it would make sense eventually, or I'd just fall asleep. This narrator was really long-winded. Did he just call another man gorgeous? Oh, I hoped this wasn't a book about some dude's infatuation with another dude.

It wasn't until about the 5th or 6th page, with the introduction of Daisy, that the book began to capture my attention.

So this Gatsby character liked to party. He sounded like my kind of guy. As I turned page after page I found out that Gatsby was in love with Daisy, another man's wife. And wanted to impress her. So, he partied. That made sense. That was not extremely dissimilar to the way I tried to impress girls. He was in love with a girl that he didn't have the balls to admit it to. I could sympathize, and empathize, with this. Letty and I were Daisy and Gatsby. Maybe if this book had some type of parallel with my life, I could just read it all and figure out how things would turn out for me. Gatsby was afraid of being rejected. Yep, so far, still accurate.

I kept reading, much longer than I had intended. Letty didn't stop so neither did I. I guessed she was really serious about trying to knock this one out. Around two o'clock in the morning I noticed that she had fallen asleep. She had read pretty much the entire book, though. I only had about ten pages left in mine. And so, by the time I finally put the book down, I had read the entire thing from beginning to end.

Well, fuck. So he professes his love. They're together for a little while until she goes back with her husband. She kills someone, Gatsby takes the blame, gets shot, and dies. That was not at all helpful for me. Would Gatsby have been better off to never attempt to initiate a relationship with Daisy? He'd still be alive. He'd be miserable, but alive. Is it better to be miserable and alive or have intense joy and die soon after? This Fitzgerald guy seemed to think it was the latter. I tended to really enjoy being alive. Women.

I looked over at Letty. She still looked sweet. We'd come a long way from the days she used to sleep on my floor. I contemplated the situation from the book for a while. And, without ever realizing it, fell asleep.

--

Beep, beep, beep.

I slowly emerged into consciousness to hear my annoying alarm. I reached out, not hitting it. The beeping continued. I reached back further on my nightstand. I didn't feel it. Shit, I was going to have to open my eyes. I reached over again, feeling a cup spill over. Fuck. I popped my eyes open and looked to determine the damage. The water was rushing all over all the papers I had sitting beside it. It ran all over my wallet, my keys. I picked up the now empty glass and sat it on the floor. I grabbed a dirty shirt and started to wipe the water off of all my stuff, at least the stuff I cared about. Hell of a way to start off the week.

I remembered that Letty had fallen asleep in my bed that night. I didn't know when she'd left but she wasn't there now. Bummer.

I opened up my dresser and grabbed a clean shirt and boxers. I looked around at all the mixed up piles of clothes. I finally picked up what I thought was a clean-enough pair of jeans. They didn't look obviously dirty, so they were sufficient. I balled everything together and set out down the hall to take a shower. I opened the bathroom door to find Letty. She was doing something with her hair. It was hard to notice because my focus was captured elsewhere. She was wearing a sports bra and a pair of either underwear or shorts. It was hard to tell. I liked that. I was surprised for a second. But then just smiled and leaned against the doorframe. Nice. These were the perks of living with a girl that wasn't your sister. A hot girl that wasn't your sister. I didn't hate it.

"What?" she asked, cocking a full-blown attitude. She still wasn't a morning person.

I shook my head.

"You need in here?" she asked, almost ignoring me.

"Take your time. I'm not in a hurry," I said, still smiling.

She rolled her eyes.

"You gonna wear that to school?" I asked optimistically. If she got in my car wearing that, there was no way we were going to school.

"Well I thought I'd put a shirt on. I'm weird like that," she responded.

I just grinned. The addition of a shirt was unfortunate, but at least I could picture what was under the shirt.

"What the fuck are you smilin' about? I gotta run the mile first period, so the clothes work," she informed me. Granted in gym class girls did dress in particularly revealing clothing. This was different. This was Letty. Perhaps some of the other girls were rubbing off on her. Regardless of the rationale, I wasn't going to complain.

"Think you can make a whole mile?" I teased.

"Only if you're there to carry me, Dom," she joked. On her way out the door she stopped and turned back to face me. "I have amazing stamina, man. I could go a hundred miles."

"Maybe a hundred feet," I muttered as she walked past. I don't know whether she heard me or not. Considering the fact that I did not receive a punch or a death stare, I would venture to guess that she did not.

So that left me all alone in the bathroom. It was much less exciting. I hurriedly showered, shaved, brushed my teeth, and all the other morning rituals to prepare for school.

I went downstairs to find Vince shoveling in a bowl of cereal. I grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet and joined him at the table.

"What happened to you last night?" he asked in between bites.

"What do you mean?"

"Why'd you just sit upstairs? You depressed or something?"

"No," I told him. "I's reading something for school."

"Really?" he asked, obviously surprised. And, who could blame him?

"Yeah," I said a little irritated.

"Why?"

"Cause I can't fail nothing else or I ain't gonna pass," I told him. This was the truth, just not the whole truth.

That answer seemed to be enough to satisfy his curiosity, and shut him up.

"Where's my dad?" I asked him.

"Already left for the garage."

"What time is it?" I asked, looking up at the clock. 7:45. Oh, shit. If we were going to go to school, we needed to leave about fifteen minutes ago. I poured the rest of the bowl of cereal in my mouth and yelled out, "Letty, let's go."

Vince casually continued to eat his food, showing no rush to leave in the near future.

"You going?" I asked him.

"Not to first period. I got a test I don't wanna take."

"You think not going's gonna make you not fail it?"

"Won't fail it today."

As he finished responding, I rushed back upstairs, taking three steps at a time. I grabbed my wallet and keys off my nightstand. I turned to leave the room, seeing what I wanted to affectionately refer to as the 'bad omen book' laying face down on the floor. I picked it up. I rushed out the door, seeing Letty only a few steps ahead. She was right, she pretty much just added a shirt. So I guess it was clear now that those tiny bottoms she was wearing were shorts. If her shorts were that small, I could just imagine how small her underwear must be.

We walked out the door. The air was cool. Letty headed to my car. I looked at my car. Then I looked down at the Nissan parked in the street.

"Hey," I called out to her. "Let's take this one."

She didn't respond but followed me down to the other car. I smiled. I was going to enjoy pulling up to school in the car Tran had lost to me. So I didn't have insurance. I would have bragging rights. And, that outweighed financial responsibilities.

We got in the car and headed towards school- five minutes before the first bell. But by the time we pulled into the parking lot the first bell had come and gone. I didn't know what bell they were on by now. The fact they had so many different bells made no sense. You were tardy after the first one anyway. I didn't understand a need for the excess.

We walked into the school. Letty turned down the first hall to go to her gym class.

"Be good," I told her as I made my way to biology. I looked back, noticing her flipping me off but smiling at the same time. I didn't think that Daisy would probably ever flip Gatsby off. So, maybe we were different from them. Maybe what happened with them wouldn't happen with us. I certainly didn't make my money by breaking the law (except for the occasional street race). And, I couldn't imagine a situation where one of us would have to get in trouble for a crime, so I would risk my happiness for her safety. We were in high school. Things like that only happened in books and movies.

The day, as with all school days, moved along very slowly. For the fist time ever I didn't mind going to English class. I knew that I had done the work and would be able to handle whatever the teacher decided to throw out at us. Maybe that was why Mia liked school so much. She did the work so class was never intimidating.

During last period, I heard an announcement on the loud speaker. "Officer Mac, please report to room 307. Officer Mac, room 307."

Room 307, I knew that room. That was Letty's last period class. And they were calling Officer Mac. I wondered what she had done now. I couldn't wait for the bell to ring so that I could find out.

The seconds ticked by like minutes. The teacher told us to do something for homework. But, I was more concerned with just leaving. Mondays were always hard days. Nothing like the weekend to get you out of the habit of sitting in a classroom.

Finally, the bell sounded. And, as with most days, I was the first person out of the classroom. In order to get to my locker, I had to walk right by the office. Sure enough, there sat Letty. I saw her sitting in a chair, waiting by the principal's office. But it appeared that she was still being berated by the vice principal. I couldn't hear what they were saying, all the noise in the hallway blocked out other sounds. But, I saw her face. She didn't look scared or remorseful. She looked pissed and annoyed. I tried desperately to get her to make eye contact with me. I would have loved to get her to start laughing right now. I knew that would only cause her to get into further trouble. But, honestly, how much more trouble could she get in? She was waiting for the principal.

I dumped my books in my locker. I had learned better than to do the work they assigned me from school. I made that mistake the previous night. If what was in that book was a life theme they were trying to teach me, I'd rather just steer clear of homework.

I made it out to my car. I saw Vince. Kelly was leaning against his car. They were talking. I wondered if he was taking my advice.

"Dom," Kelly called out. I turned and looked at her.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Did Vince sleep with Maria?" she asked me. Why did girls do that? Did they think they were going to get an honest answer from a guy's best friend to incriminate them?

Without a second thought I responded, "No. I mean I don't know what Maria you're talking about. But I know that Vince ain't sleeping with nobody else."

"See?" Vince quickly responded.

"Whatever," she said to him.

His voice got softer and I could not hear their conversation. That did not bother me at all. I hated when other people tried to involve you in their arguments.

"I like the car," a newly familiar voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Leon approaching.

"Me too," I responded.

"Hey thanks for letting us crash the other night, dawg," Leon said.

"No problem, man."

"You hear what happened to Letty?"

I shook my head no.

"She fucking had it out with Zack in chem lab."

"Why?"

"Don't know. I wasn't in there. That's just what I heard. I think it got pretty bad."

"Well they called Officer Mac. So, it couldn't have been good."

"I hear that. So, anyway, when you want us to come by the garage?"

"Um, how 'bout like Wednesday? We'll kind of walk through everything and see what we can come up with."

"Sounds good, dawg."

"Alright, man. I'll see you later," I said as I saw Letty approaching. I couldn't wait to hear about what had happened.

"Peace," Leon said, noticing Letty coming forward. He shot me a grin and started off in the other direction.

I smiled as she got closer. She looked angry. I wanted to laugh but figured that wouldn't do much to help anything.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," she said to me.

"Bad day?" I asked, jokingly.

She knew I knew. She didn't respond. Obviously, she wasn't feeling very chatty.

She went around and stepped up to the passenger side of the car. I unlocked it and she quickly got in and slammed the door. I wondered if I really wanted to get in the car and jump into this hornets nest that was Letty's mood. I guessed that I didn't really have a choice. Without further hesitation, I got into the drivers seat, turned the key in the ignition, and pulled out of the parking space.

"Where are we going?" she asked as we headed down the same roads we took everyday.

"The garage," I responded. Where else would we be going?

"Can we go, just, some where else? Please. Just anywhere else," she asked, flustered.

I looked at her oddly. What was the issue with the garage? I hadn't asked her about the fight yet. I sensed, from her immensely hostile attitude, that she did not want to get into too many intimate details yet.

"Um, where do you wanna go?"

"Anywhere. Somewhere not around any other people."

Where in LA was I supposed to take her that wouldn't have a lot of people? This situation was set up for me to fail. I tried to think quickly. No place came to mind. The only places I could think of that we went to had people, that was typically why we went there. No people. Where wouldn't have any people? I didn't want to drive way far out of the way if I didn't have to. I knew that I'd have to get to work pretty soon. But, if she needed a breather I was totally down with giving her some release. I understood what it was like to be frustrated. I knew what it was like to have an issue that everyone wanted to ask you about but you didn't actually want to talk with anyone about. It was conflicting.

I made a sharp left and headed towards Santa Monica. It was winter. Maybe there wouldn't be too many people off the pier. Or, if there were, maybe we could find somewhere close to the pier that was fairly deserted.

She did not say another word throughout the drive. I pulled up in a free parking lot near a public beach entrance. I put the car in park. I didn't do anything. I figured this was her baby, I'd let her dictate the moves. I looked around. There was only one other car in the parking lot. I thought I'd done a pretty good job of finding a low population area for her to runaway to.

I sat there, unsure of what to do. Should I say something? I glanced over at her. Her facial expression still looked pissed. I opted out of talking. I looked around. I wondered how long we would sit here until something happened. Why had she needed to get away from other people? What had happened at school?

She opened the car door. I followed suit. She walked down to the beach. I wondered if she wanted to be alone. Should I follow her? Or just give her some time? I noticed her turn back around. She looked at me, nodding her head, indicating for me to come to her. I took my shoes and socks off and stepped into the sand. It was cold. I walked towards her. Her hair blew in the salty beach wind. She had, unfortunately, changed out of the small shorts she had worn to gym class. She was wearing camo cargo pants and a tank. I didn't care what she was wearing. She always looked beautiful.

I walked up to her. As I stepped up to her, she started walking slowly. I just walked along side of her. Her hands were dangling at her sides. That was unnecessary. Although I typically would never want to hold a girl's hand, I reached down and wrapped my hand around hers. She grabbed hold and wrapped her fingers in mine. It was a perfect fit, just like she had always been. We just walked.

TBC

---

AJ

So just one more chapter. What happened at school? Will Dom finally profess his love? What do you guys think of this story, as the saga comes to a close? Anything that needs to be changed or added to the last chapter? Feedback is always appreciated.


	27. Chapter 27

We just walked. And we walked. And we walked some more. I did not realize how far we had gone until she finally wanted to turn around and walk back. I did not even recognize the strip of beach that we had ventured to. I could walk any distance with her hand in mine. It felt good, natural. It wasn't forced. It was easy. Comfortable. Familiar.

I was not surprised that Letty wanted to have a chill out period after something turbulent had happened at school. With her, there wasn't a 'calm before the storm', so to speak. Quite the contrary, actually. There was always a calm after a storm. But Letty defied nature in so many ways. It was no surprise that this was just one more to add to the list. The exception makes the rule. I guess that's how God viewed it anyway. She was an exceptional exception.

We were much less than a quarter of a mile (always a distance I could eyeball) from where we had started when she stopped. She just sat in the sand. A word had still not been uttered between the two of us since we started on this beach journey. The sun was starting to go down. We had missed work completely. Dad would be mad. I didn't care. There was no place in the world I'd rather be. I sat down beside her.

It just felt right. Being there, in that time, in that place, everything was right. It made everything in my life start to unfold and suddenly make sense. Everything we had gone through together, she and I, over these past seven years, was building up to this moment.

"I got suspended," she started. "For two weeks."

What an anticlimactic let down. Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I would have guessed from her solemn, fuck-the-world attitude. I thought she'd gotten expelled. Of course, to Letty, expulsion would be more of a blessing than a curse. I guessed maybe she was so pissed because she knew she'd have to go back to school eventually.

I didn't respond. I didn't want to bombard her with all the 'who/what/why' questions that were racing through my head.

"I didn't know why you were getting so pissed the other night about Zack. I thought you were just being an asshole," she elaborated.

"Thanks for all the credit," I sarcastically stated.

"I realize now what he was trying to do."

"And what do you think he was trying to do?" I couldn't wait to hear her take on all this.

"He told me what he said to you. That he was trying to make it seem like we'd had sex. And then he had the balls to actually start flirtin' with me in class today. Like flirting pretty hardcore. He wanted me to say that I'd hook up with him. Like for real. I told him to back off. But, some guys just don't listen. And then that was when I hit him with the chair…He backed off after that."

Wow, that came out of left field. Maybe it should not have caught me quite so off guard. Considering who was telling the story. But, I still did not see that one coming. A chair?

"Look at you," I said, smiling down at her.

She hit Zack with a chair. That was my girl. I am not surprised that she got in trouble. But if you have got to go down, damn, what an awesome way to go.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothin'," I said. I was proud of her. I am glad that she stood up for herself. I felt like there was something deeper that she wasn't telling me about why she'd done it all. But, I didn't press her.

"Anyway, so then they called the police liaison officer and he…" she stopped, clearing her throat. "Escorted me out."

"Alright, so let me get this straight," I started, smiling and making an attempt to hold off my laughter. "You got hauled off by a rent-a-cop for beatin' Zack's ass?"

"Hey! He was a big ass rent-a-cop. You know Mac. You don't wanna fuck around with him. He's got that pepper spray and he ain't afraid to use it," she joked.

I laughed. She was cute. "You're slipping, Let. I got to admit, I'm a little disappointed. You let 'the man' take you down."

"You need to shut the fuck up," she said, pretending to get upset.

"Look on the bright side, now you don't have to worry about going to school for a few weeks, right? I mean, suspended. So, that is one problem solved temporarily."

"Well, I guess that's one way to look at it."

"My dad is going to be pissed off at you."

"Not if he doesn't know."

"I'm sorry. That's just too good to keep secret."

I knew that I would, though. I would do anything for her. Even if it meant not telling an outrageously good story. Which, in high school, was one of the hardest things to do.

"You're an asshole."

"Nah."

"Oh, okay," she said, indignation dripping from each word.

"So why'd you do it?" I asked. I finally wanted to get down to the jist of it. There had to be more to it. It didn't sound like she was really provoked that much. Maybe it was in my head. Letty did always like to fight. It certainly wouldn't have been her first indiscretion at school. I guess I would find out if I was making up the whole thing or if this was actually something real. Please be real…

"I don't know."

That was certainly the opposite of beneficial. She did not know. I had a hard time believing that. I was going to have to call her on it…

"Bullshit. Come on," I urged.

"I mean, I guess I was just really angry."

"Why were you so mad? I'd think you'd like somebody like Zack," I said. The words were so hard to actually get out. God, I hoped she didn't say yes.

"Why? Why would you think I'd like someone like Zack?" she asked surprised.

"I dunno. He's into cars. He's a senior. I mean I'm not a girl. I can't imagine why anyone'd like Zack. But some girls seem to."

"I'm not that kinda girl."

"Letty, you're not any _kinda_ girl."

"Thanks?" she questioned sarcastically.

"That was supposed to be a compliment."

"Coulda fooled me," she replied.

I shook my head. Sometimes I couldn't win for losing with her. She was the only one I would be willing to lose to.

"So?" I asked. I wanted to hear her say it. Say something. Anything to know that she was feeling the same thing I was feeling.

"So what? I mean he was just trying to get back at you. Separate us. Why did you get so mad when Zack said it to you?"

Well now we were just dancing around the issue. Dancing was never a skill of mine.

"I dunno." I did not want to be the one to go first. I was starting to feel really nervous.

"Dom."

"Letty."

"Come on. Why were you so mad?"

I shrugged. I knew exactly why I was. But I didn't want to say it.

"Well I'll wait till you figure it out."

Son of a bitch.

"Well he was lying, talkin' shit. Course I'm gonna be pissed at that. What did you mean when you said that he was trying to separate us?"

"Well you know he was trying to come between us," she said and stopped. She looked very pensive. But then she started again, "so the only reason you got pissed was because he was talking shit? Really?"

"Yeah, I mean…well, maybe more." I realized I was smiling. God, I probably had the dumbest grin on my face. Are smiles reflexes? This one must have been.

"More, huh? What 'more'?"

"Maybe…maybe we should talk about…this."

"This? Like with Zack? God, I kinda thought we'd just covered that?" she asked completely confused.

"No," I started. "This…with us."

Had I been able to feel any part of my body after saying that, I may have realized that I was shaking from being so nervous. Luckily, I was totally numb. I may have been blushing. And the fact that I may have been blushing, embarrassed me even more. She needed to hurry up and respond.

"Okay," she replied.

Okay? Well, guess she was going to let me do the talking. I decided to just come on out with it then. It was about time.

"Alright, well, as much as I don't really want to get into talkin' about all this, we've got something going on here, with us, that we need to, you know, recognize," I said.

"I recognize it," she replied. She had a hell of a way of expressing it.

"Well, I guess we need to do more than just recognize it then," I said, trying to get a handle on things.

"Okay," she said.

"So, what? You want to go on a date or something?" I asked, extremely awkward. I did not think that I had ever taken a girl out on a date. I guess it would depend on what constituted a date. If sex was the criteria, I had been on a lot of dates.

"No, not really. That just sounds uncomfortable," she replied. Thank God. It did sound uncomfortable. But, I would have been willing to endure it for Letty.

"Okay, well don't say I never asked!" I replied. I didn't want to get into this and get shit for not starting it off correctly later on down the road. Wow, 'later on down the road'. Never before had I hoped and anticipated that my relationship with a girl would have a future.

"Okay," she shrugged. "I got to tell you, it was hard to resist, though, with such a romantic offer."

"Shut up," I said smiling. I guess that wasn't the sweetest way to ask. But, hell, leave it to Letty to be a smart ass in this situation. This was how I knew we should be together. "I don't know where that leaves us," I said.

She was not a racer chaser, she wasn't one of the slutty girls that I usually just picked up after having a few beers. I didn't want our relationship to be as superficial as all those quasi relationships had been. I knew it went so much deeper than that. And, if I broke her trust, I knew that I would break her. I couldn't bare that.

"Where do you want that to leave us?" she asked.

I wanted it to leave me not having to answer that question. But, it was Letty, she wasn't going to give more than she had to. I knew this much about her. She never had. It was awesome how the universe had put two of the worst talkers together.

So that meant that I was going to have to answer. "Well, I don't know. I just…like you." God, I felt like I was about four-years-old. At that moment, I was so relieved that we were on a beach, alone. If anyone else heard this conversation I would probably have to die.

"Thanks, Dom. I sort of picked up on that. But, it didn't really answer the question," she said. Shit, she was ruthless. She was killing me.

"Jesus, Letty," I said laughing, not because it was funny, because I was getting flustered. I didn't know what to do. I was completely out of my element. I wanted to tell her. But, I was still scared. Why?

"Dom, listen. It's just us here. It doesn't matter. I just want to know how you feel," she said looking up at me. This was very un-Letty-like. But, it helped. 'It didn't matter', she just needed to hear me say it.

"I want to be with you, Letty. No one else. If you want to, let's do this," I said, honestly.

"Alright, but you'll have to understand that I'll be sixteen soon. After I get my wheels and get on the road, I can't make you any promises, man," she joked.

Not funny. I just perked my eyebrows up and looked at her. I loved and appreciated Letty for her inability to be serious most of the time. This was not one of those times. We would have to work on differentiating between serious conversations, and non-serious conversations.

"I'm just kidding. I won't be sixteen for a couple of months," she said, attempting a straight face.

"Letty," I said. I wasn't annoyed. However, I did feel like I was putting myself out there. I was looking for a real answer.

"Dominic, I got mad at Zack because I was afraid that he killed my chances of actually being with you. I don't want you to think I like him, or have ever liked him. And I was scared that you believed him. I haven't been able to tell you how I feel and it's been frustrating. So, I guess I just took it out on him. I was afraid that what happened with Zack, well, it killed my chances of ever being able to tell you. I mean I've cared about you for so many years. And to think that one person could ruin all of that. It really upset me. Of course I want to be with you. I've never wanted to be with anyone else. It's always been you," she admitted.

Wow! Sweet. Had she told me that about, oh, three years ago, it could have saved me a lot of grief. I felt a gigantic weight completely lifted off my shoulders.

"And, also, most of that time I been spending with Hector, well let's just say it ain't all been about drivin' and droppin' out."

Well then that really made me wonder what they had been doing. I hoped this extension to her monologue was headed in a direction I would like.

"Most of it…we been talkin' about you."

I could live with that.

"Me, huh?"

"Yeah. That was one of the reasons I wanted to go somewhere with you, away from everyone, after all that shit that happened today. I needed to clear my head and talk to you. Besides, Hector's been telling me for a while that he thinks you like me." She smiled, almost embarrassed to say it. I knew how she felt. Everyone pretending like they know more about your life than you do. Welcome to my world Letty.

"Shit that ain't nearly as bad as what I been going through. I've had my Dad, Mia, Vince, fuck even Zack and Jesse calling me out on you."

"What'd they say?"

"They think you like me," I said mocking her, attempting to imitate her tone but doing a pretty piss poor job of it.

"Eh, yeah, I guess you're alright." I don't think I'd ever seen her with such a big smile on her face.

I smiled. Just what I'd always dreamed of- the girl I loved saying that she thought I was 'alright'. But, with Letty, I knew. I knew that it meant so much more than that. I knew that she felt the same way I did. Finally, I could confidently believe that.

It was impossible to hold back my excitement. I didn't want to. There was no reason to hide anything anymore. It was out there, all on the table. And, it was official. I looked down at her, directly inter her eyes. She was still smiling.

I must admit that I was in a state of shock for a few moments. I leaned over and kissed her.

I realized, now, that she _had_ chosen me. There were a lot of people in Letty's life that really cared about her- despite what she wanted to believe. And she could have run to any of them. But, every time and throughout everything, she ran to me. And, I stood by her.

Despite all of my stupid antics and ridiculous games, she stood by me as well. Nothing I seemed to ever do was too immature, or mean, or cocky. She was always there. She would always be there. And I would always be there for her. I loved her. And a love like this last an eternity. No one would ever look at me so honestly, so genuinely as Letty looked at me. And I didn't think that anyone would ever be able to look at Letty and see all of her strength, sensitivity, and passion the way that I saw it. We were two closed off people that decided to let love in. And, despite all better judgment, it had worked. I realized that it had made us both better people. Maybe not to the world, but to each other. And for each other.

After that, all rational thinking was thrown out the window. I felt her hair locked between my fingers as we continued to kiss. Our kisses became much more passionate. Fast and furious. My tongue explored every area of her mouth. I pulled her towards me, closer. She edged up until she was essentially sitting in my lap, almost straddling me. This could get dangerous. I moved my hand from behind her head and slid it down her back. I could feel the warmth of her skin radiating out of her shirt. Her shirt was skin tight and my hand braised her spine and it trailed down even lower. As the top of her waistband met my fingertips, I stopped my search. We were still deeply engrained in kisses. I felt her hands exploring my back as well, though not quite taking the measures that I was. I allowed my fingertips to sink into her waistband, feeling the tops of her panties. Using the palm of my hands, I pressed against the small of her back, bringing her body completely against my own. I felt her hips dig deep into mine, which only caused to heighten my arousal, literally.

My hand snaked up underneath her shirt. My other hand followed closely behind. I could not get over how soft her skin was. She pulled back ever so briefly and pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it somewhere. It was started to get dark, the sun almost completely set. But, I could see her. The way her skin radiated in the pale moonlight. The way her boobs looked in that awesome, hot black bra. I didn't get to look for too long before we were engorged in kissing once again. I lowered my kisses to now include her collarbone and her chest. I assumed, by the brief moans that she was making, it was a good thing. I pulled my shirt off quickly and tossed it aside. God I wanted to take her bra off. But I knew I couldn't let it get that far. I had to take it slow. That idea went against everything I, as a seventeen-year-old guy, wanted to do. But it was the right thing to do. I had to do the right thing by Letty. But, damn, I wanted her. And I didn't think it was going to get any easier the more we did this. It was going to be difficult. Self-control was never my forte. Maybe it would be hers. If not, well, at least I could say that we tried.

"Hey kids, I said you aren't allowed to be here at night," someone said, pointing a flashlight directly on me.

Shit I hadn't even realized that anyone else was out here.

"What the fuck?" Letty said quietly. I felt her scramble off me, searching for her shirt.

I turned around and looked at the cock block that had just put me in the spotlight. But I couldn't see anything but a bright light in my eyes. I tried to look around to, to make out the figure. And, I saw him. Some beach cop. Damn.

"You have about 30 seconds to get out of here before I call your parents," he said, still blabbing.

"Alright," I yelled back. I did not figure having him call my dad and say that he caught us making out on the beach would lead anywhere good.

I saw Letty slip her shirt back on. We looked at each other and just laughed.

"Busted," she whispered.

I nodded. I turned around and grabbed my shirt. I slipped it on before standing up. I led her off of the beach. As I passed by the cop, I didn't make eye contact.

We got back into the car and I slipped my shoes back on. They were full of sand but I had a feeling we should probably just get out of there.

I started the ignition and pulled out of the parking space slowly.

"Well you just attract cops don't you? What was that? Your second run in with the cops today?" I joked with her.

"Yeah, just wait, I'm going to be on 'America's Most Wanted' before you know it. You sure you wanna get hooked up with somebody like me?" she joked back.

I stopped reversing. Before switching it into drive, I looked over at her.

"Yeah. I think I can handle it," I said leaning over and kissing her.

That was not the first time that Letty and I had gotten caught. Lord knows it wouldn't be the last time either. But it was a blessing in disguise. We needed to take things slow. Maybe not quite as slow as I had made my dad believe. But, slow-er. And I was pretty confident that one day we would not get interrupted. And it would be awesome. But for now we just laughed, enjoying not knowing but looking forward to what the future would hold. Together, we could feel invincible.

--

Of course, I didn't really know how to be in a 'relationship'. This was definitely something I was going to have to learn. But, it would be interesting to learn with Letty. I figured I would do a lot of pissing her off in the process. It should be fun.

In a few years people would not even remember how we got together, or why. They wouldn't remember how old we were or exactly where it happened. We would be old news. No one would know what I went through to get her. Or what she went through to be with me. Her side of the story, I would come to find that out later. People would just know us as Dom and Letty. But _we_ would always remember exactly how it happened.

And I knew that, though this was the end of the guessing game I had been playing with Letty the past couple of months, or years for that matter. It wasn't really the end for us. It wasn't the end at all. In fact, I realized that right there on the beach, by the crashing waves and the setting sun, that was when it really started. That was where we became a couple. That was how the journey of what would become our lives together was initiated. Where Dom and Letty really begin.

The End

---

AJ

Thus concludes my very first chapter fanfic. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I appreciate everyone who has stuck with it over these past couple of months.

So, now that it's over, what did you think?


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